


My Jolly Sailor Bold

by kristhaswaggerdaddy



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mermaids, Not Really Character Death, Pirates of the Caribbean References, Supernatural Elements, because it all works out in the end, mermaid!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 02:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7739497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristhaswaggerdaddy/pseuds/kristhaswaggerdaddy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jongin has always loved the sea and everything it had to offer. Why should this trip to the Western Islands be anything but an adventure?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Western Islands

**Author's Note:**

> _Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray,_   
>  _Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,_   
>  _Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem'd to be in pain,_   
>  _Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again._
> 
>  
> 
> _His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as sloes,_  
>  _May happiness attend him wherever he goes,_  
>  _From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,_  
>  _All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return._
> 
>  
> 
> _My father is a merchant—the truth I now will tell,_  
>  _And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,_  
>  _His fortune doth exceed ₤300,000 in gold,_  
>  _And he frowns upon his daughter, 'cause she loves a sailor bold._
> 
>  
> 
> _A fig for his riches, his merchandize, and gold,_  
>  _True love is grafted in my heart; give me my sailor bold:_  
>  _Should he return in poverty, from o'er the ocean far,_  
>  _To my tender bosom, I'll fondly press my jolly tar._
> 
>  
> 
> _My sailor is as smiling as the pleasant month of May,_  
>  _And oft we have wandered through Ratcliffe Highway,_  
>  _Where many a pretty blooming girl we happy did behold,_  
>  _Reclining on the bosom of her jolly sailor bold._
> 
>  
> 
> _Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be_  
>  _Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,_  
>  _While up aloft, in storm or gale, from me his absence mourn,_  
>  _And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return._
> 
>  
> 
> _My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,_  
>  _And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,_  
>  _My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,_  
>  _There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold._

Jongin was going to set sail to the west.

“But son,” Jongin’s father gave him a look of astonishment. “You’ll be married in three months to the Park family’s daughter, you can’t just run off—”

“I’m not running off, dad, I’d just like… some time to think about things before I rush into a marriage with someone I hardly know,” Jongin said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his father.  

“ _Hardly know_? You’ve been friends with the Park family’s son for years, how is it any different from getting to know his sister a little better through marriage?” his father replied, taking off his reading glasses. But it wasn’t that simple. The truth was that Jongin didn’t want to marry her. He didn’t want to get to know her; it was Chanyeol’s sister for goodness’ sake.  

“And you’re not rushing into things at all! Three months is more than enough time to—”

“To sail and come back in time for the wedding. I really don’t see why I can’t go now, seeing as I’m running out of time as a free man,” Jongin snapped. His father sighed wearily, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “Three months is more than enough to know the Park family’s daughter. You should be spending time with her, getting to know your wife—”

“Ah, but she isn’t my wife yet, is she?” Jongin pointed out. His father chuckled bitterly, putting away his fountain pen.

“No she isn’t,” his father acceded. “But you will still wed her all the same, son.”

“I know. So that means whether I go or not won’t make a difference, would it?” Jongin asked. His father shook his head. “It will, in my account books. Setting sail to the far west means taking my ship and a journey this long won’t be cheap, son—”

“Yes dad, but as you said, I’m marrying the Park’s daughter, aren’t I? You’d earn the money right back,” Jongin said, getting up. His father sputtered at him. “Sit right back down, son, we haven’t finished discussing this!”

“What’s there to discuss? If it’s about the expenses then fine, I’ll pay for it out of my own salary. And don’t worry, father, I’ll be back before the wedding,” Jongin promised.

His father tried to say something more, but Jongin just grabbed his father’s hand, shook it and ran away in glee, already feeling ecstatic. There were things to be done if he was going to set sail to the west by tomorrow, things to buy and a crew to procure. And he knew exactly where to find one.

“We’ve shaken on it so you can’t stop me on this anymore!” Jongin said as he left the room as quickly as possible.

“Good luck, son,” his father whispered under his breath, smiling after Jongin’s retreating figure.

 

Jongin left his house in a hurry, snatching his bag of coins and stuffing it into his pocket while he ran as fast as he could to the pub, where he knew all his friends would be at this time of the day on a weekend.

Collinsport was but a small sea town built on an island, where most of the people did business with traders who stopped to make port and exported fish out to the world. The town was built some 100 years ago and Collinsport flourished for a while, before a passageway going around the island was found. That was when business started going down fairly quickly.

Jongin’s family made a living off of a few fishing boats, but Jongin knew it was only a matter of time before they’d have to leave the island. In any case, this trip to the western islands would do him good; he could find out more about the west and see if it’d be prosperous for his family to live there.

_After all, got the wife coming on_ , Jongin thought to himself.  _This is my last sail as a bachelor before I get tied down like one of those old buggers sitting at the pub all day, drinking their miseries away._

He was at the pub’s entrance soon enough, and Jongin stumbled in, looking for his group of friends. These friends had been with him all his life and he knew he could count on them if he ever needed to.

“Ah, Chanyeol!” Jongin called, spotting a familiar head sticking above the usual crowd at the pub. Jongin squeezed past a few tables crowded by men, both young and old alike, and waved at Chanyeol when he turned around.

“Oh, Jongin, it’s you! Come, come,” Chanyeol smiled at the sight of Jongin from across the pub. Baekhyun, Junmyeon and Jongdae’s face appeared through the crowd as well, looking for Jongin. They were all working on Jongin’s family’s fishing boats while Chanyeol was the Park family’s son (who was rich enough that he never had to work a day in his life).

“Jongin,” the boys chorused when Jongin finally arrived at the table. They each had a pint on the table, and Chanyeol called for another round while Jongin pulled up a stool and sat on it, breathing heavily.

“What’s the rush, eh?” Baekhyun asked, sipping at his pint. Huddled close to the back of the pub, Jongin felt it safe to place his small purse of coins on the table and tried to catch his breath.

“My… father… allowed me on the sailing trip I was telling… you lads about,” Jongin heaved.

Jongdae was surprised. “Well that’s good then. Will you be taking the ship?” he asked, referring to Providence, a small but adequate ship Jongin’s family owned. Jongin nodded.

“Where are you sailing to?” Junmyeon asked.

“The… west… western islands,” Jongin wheezed. His pint of beer came and he pounced on it, gulping half of it down his throat while his friends stared at him in utter silence. Jongin could hear their shock, from the lack of vocal response.

“Beg pardon?” Baekhyun said, blinking rapidly. “Western islands?  _The_  western islands?” Chanyeol parroted.  

Jongin glared at him. “I don’t suppose there’s another set of western islands I’ve never heard of?”

“Alright, no need to be all testy with each other, they were just in shock. But why the far off west, in particular?” Jongdae said, running a finger distractedly over the rim of his mug. Jongin cleared his throat, nervously placing the mug in his hand down on the table.

“It’s not  _that_  far off.”

“Yes, it is, it takes a month just to get there.”

“Winds have been good lately. Might make good time,” Jongin said optimistically. Chanyeol cocked his head to one side, looking at him curiously. “Does this trip have anything to do with you marrying my sister?” he asked. Everyone but Chanyeol looked away.

“It’s not your sister that’s the problem, it’s me,” Jongin stated honestly. It was him and his reluctance to be married at eighteen just like any other man he knew. Jongin didn’t want his life to be mediocre or monotonous, he wanted a bit of adventure and excitement, and he didn’t have enough of that yet. There was an intangible something that he felt was yet to be felt in his heart, and it was why he wanted to go on this trip. If there was nothing in Collinsport that could make him feel alive, then maybe the western islands could offer otherwise.

“You know, you’re going to marry her in three months,” Chanyeol said to him. “So everyone keeps telling me. It must be true,” Jongin said, straight faced.

“Oy, that’s my sister you’re talking about,” Chanyeol replied distractedly. Jongin knew Chanyeol wasn’t particularly bothered with the trip itself, but he was only looking out for his sister like any brother would.

“Well, if you’re taking Providence then you’ll need a crew, ain’t ya?” Baekhyun asked, slurping at his pint. Jongin nodded. “And that’s why I’m here, squeezed into the only pub in town like a can of sardines,” he smiled sweetly.

“None of that,” Jongdae pretended to push his face away, laughing at his expression.

“To the west, you say, eh?” Baekhyun said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Mm.”

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “I’m up for it,” he said. Jongin chortled on his pint. “What, you don’t want me on your crew?” Chanyeol said, frowning at Jongin’s reaction.

“You’d think a concerned brother-in-law would stay with his sister and say nice things about her future husband,” Jongin muttered.

“Aye, but I’m not concerned and neither would I say nice things about you,” Chanyeol winked. They laughed around the table, keeping their voices low in case someone listened in and got up in their business.

“I think I wouldn’t mind me a trip to the west,” Junmyeon acceded. Jongin brightened up. Junmyeon was the best seaman around; it’d be a bonus to have on Providence. “Really?”

“Yeah. Just us lads, out and about on the sea seeking adventure,” Junmyeon said, smiling already at the thought of it.

“What the hell, why not?” Jongdae said, thumping his fist on the table. “We’ll all do it.”

It was just the thing Jongin needed to hear. He beamed and offered to pay for all their drinks in thanks. “To adventure then,” he held up his pint.

“To adventure.” Their mugs clinked together, beer spilling over their hands and running down their arms. All of them finished their beer, making sounds of appreciation in their throats when they were done.

“There’s only five of us, right?” Junmyeon asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Jongin nodded.

“Five doesn’t suffice?”

“Six would be better for a girl like Providence,” Junmyeon said. “Needs half a dozen men to put her to work, mm?” Baekhyun joked. One more member needed for their crew… it wasn’t a problem. Jongin could already think of someone.

*

“You needed a sixth member and you thought bringing Sehun would change things?” Junmyeon asked flatly. Sehun and Jongin looked indignant. “He’s as good a sailor as the rest of us, I don’t see why not—”

“The last time he was on a fishing boat he forgot to bring the nets onboard,” Chanyeol helpfully supplied from the ratlines above them, dangling in the wind to fix some knots on the sails. Sehun, Jongin and Junmyeon were standing on the sterncastle deck about to have a Mexican standoff while Baekhyun and Jongdae made themselves useful by carrying all the supplies onto Providence.

“It was just that one time!” Sehun yelled at Chanyeol. Jongin patted his back reassuringly. Sehun had been friends with them for about three years now, and was closer to Jongin than he was with the rest of the lads because only Jongin seemed to understand when his snarky comments were jokes where the others did not.

“Look, he can pull his own weight here, and as long as you give him a chance you’ll see that his sharp tongue’s got nothing to do with his sailing abilities,” Jongin said, trying to put in a good word for Sehun.  

The others weren’t that bothered with Sehun, it was only Junmyeon who was the problem because if he didn’t like someone, he would ignore them entirely even if it meant burdening himself.

Junmyeon sighed, giving Sehun a once over look, from his worn boots to his loosely worn linen shirt. “Follow my orders and if you fall behind, I won’t be there to pick you up,” Junmyeon said warningly to Sehun. He put both hands up in mock surrender, nodding his head. “Aye aye, sir.”

Jongin chuckled, sending them both off to finish preparing for the trip. According to Junmyeon earlier, the wind would pick up soon and if they were fast enough to catch it in their sails, they could be well on their way to the west just as Jongin wanted.

They had all woken up at dawn and met up on the Providence to start preparing for their sail to the west. Their parents were hardly worried; as long as Junmyeon was with them, they felt that their sons would certainly be safe in his hands. If their parents weren’t going to stand in their way, Jongin wasn’t going to complain. Besides, they’d only be gone for two and a half months or so, depending on the weather. What could really happen on the seas when the sky was this clear and blue?

“Jongin, we’ve got all the supplies!” Jongdae called at him. Jongin peeped over the deck to see Baekhyun and Suho carrying loops of ropes around their shoulders. Jongin gave Jongdae a thumbs up, and told him to get up on the ship. 

“Chanyeol! Are you done yet?” Jongin yelled up at him. He was up at the fore topsail, retying the ropes from above with a small blade in his mouth. He shook his head furiously at Jongin, so they waited a bit for him to finish tightening all the knots before he climbed down from the ratlines nimbly and hopped on deck.

“I’m done,” he panted, sweat already dotting his forehead. Jongin was sure this was the first time Chanyeol was labouring so hard on someone else’s behalf, but he was the one who offered to climb up since he’s never been up there before. “Good,” Jongin said, patting Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Baekhyun, I think we can get the anchor out of the water now,” Jongin said, climbing a few steps down to the main deck to help them with the capstan. It would take all of them to push it, and that was the only downside to having the bare minimum number of crew needed, but Jongin didn’t mind that. Anything, so long as they were out of Collinsport for the next few weeks.

“Let’s all push!” Baekhyun said, calling Sehun and Junmyeon over. Jongdae ambled over once he was done with the shrouds, wiping the sweat away from his brow to grip one of the capstan’s handles with both hands. Chanyeol joined them at the last minute to push the capstan clockwise, pulling the anchor back up from the seabed.

Moaned and groaned they did, but when the anchor pulled free and the ship started to float slowly away from the port, their complaints were immediately forgotten. Working or not, they were still just boys on their own in the sea for the first time, and they couldn’t help feeling excited.

“Steady as she goes!” Jongin shouted.

*

Three days into the trip and Jongin could already see an improvement in Sehun and Junmyeon’s relationship with one another. Junmyeon wasn’t as curt with him anymore, could at least sit across from him during their meals.

That wasn’t the only thing that progressed on the Providence. Chanyeol and Jongdae were in charge of their meals once Jongin noticed on the first day that they hadn’t thought of bringing a cook onboard. Jongdae could cut vegetables and meat up as good as the next guy, so Jongin left him to it.

And although Junmyeon was actually just Jongin’s first mate, he was better at being captain than Jongin was. All Jongin did was make sure they were on the right heading while Junmyeon ran around the ship making sure everything was in its place and that everyone were doing things right while singing all the songs they knew as they sailed boldly across the endless blue.

When night came, beneath the moon they’d share stories of Davy Jones’ Locker and other tales of the sea while drinking rum, taking turns to fall asleep as the ship rocked them soothingly. Baekhyun had the most exciting stories to tell because his father was just as talkative as he was, and tonight was no different as he held a bottle of rum in his hands and burped, getting ready to tell his story.

“Have any of you cockroaches noticed where we’ll be headin’ past while we sail t’wards the west?” Baekhyun said, his words coming out like gibberish. Jongin could tell he had had too much of rum already and confiscated the bottle from him, pouring himself a drink.

“What are we passing, fellow cockroach?” Chanyeol asked. He was going to stay up tonight and he would need the entertainment. Junmyeon smiled to himself like he could already guess but kept silent, waiting for Baekhyun to speak.

“None of ya want to take a guess?” Baekhyun asked, one eye sliding shut as he spoke. Jongdae slapped him lightly on the cheek and he jerked up, startled.

“We’d rather not,” Sehun said to Baekhyun. Jongdae laughed, high fiving him appreciatively. Baekhyun shrugged, running a hand through his greasy hair. “It’s your loss. We’ll be passin’ Whitecap Bay, lads. And d’you know what waits beneath the waters close to Whitecap Bay?” Baekhyun asked, lowering his voice theatrically.

Jongin blinked. This was something he really couldn’t guess. Whitecap Bay? He’d never heard of the place. Baekhyun pointed at his face. “Aha! Now here’s a lad who knows not what dangers we might face,” Baekhyun said loudly. Jongdae stared up at him, wondering if he should punch him or listen to the entire story first.

“Dangers?” Jongin echoed hollowly. Stories were just stories, weren’t they? Junmyeon could see through Jongin’s expression and shook his head once. “It’s just a myth,” Junmyeon muttered under his breath.

“Aye, that’s what all the others said as well, Junmyeon, before their ship was sank not two hundred feet away from Whitecap Bay, and I’ll tell yer why!” Baekhyun yelled, standing up. His eyes suddenly focused on Jongin’s face, burning with determination.

“Mermaids.”

Everyone gave an audible tired sigh at that. Only Jongin remained confused and somewhat disbelieving.

“Are you telling me we’re going to meet mermaids?” Jongin laughed. The only danger on these waters was the waters itself, not mythical creatures from the past. Jongin knew Baekhyun was joking at once.

“You’ve never heard of this story before?” Sehun asked. Jongin shook his head. “I thought everyone knew this story,” Sehun said, looking around the table. Jongin rolled his eyes. “Well apparently not everyone knows it. Baekhyun, are you willing to tell me about these fairy tale creatures?” Jongin asked.

“Oi, but they’re not fairy tales! Oh, they’re as real as you and I on this big boat, son, and you can bet every man onboard should be afraid even if they don’t believe the stories to be true,” Baekhyun said ominously.

“They say mermaids don’t eat women,” Jongdae said offhandedly. Jongin laughed. “Mermaids eating humans, Jongdae? I find that hard to believe—”

“Not so loud, mate,” Sehun muttered, placing a placating hand over Jongin’s arm. “We don’t want to test our luck this far out at sea.” Jongin scoffed at him in disbelief. What were they now, a bunch of superstitious goats at the mere mention of mermaids?

Baekhyun waved at Jongin to quiet down. “I’ll tell ya, Jongin, and then maybe you can decide if you want to believe the story.”

Jongin waited patiently, keeping his lips pursed.

“Right then. Ponce De Leon once wrote about the mermaids in his books y’see, so you’ll know that there is some written proof of the existence of these mermaids  _once_ , although whether or not they’re still around now isn’t known.

Ponce De Leon was sailing to the east, where we’re headed away from now, and chanced upon an island on his trip. This little island wasn’t on the map then and neither it is now, which vexed him so at first, but he decided to make port there for a hurricane was about to sweep the seas.

Next, he and his men got down from their ship to see if there were any inhabitants on the island, only to find none. Not even a seagull fluttered past the island, which was strange, since there were houses left to rot on the island. Only one building remained tall and proud, and that was the lighthouse. It was sunset when they started to explore the island but by nightfall, Ponce De Leon was to find out the reason why the island was devoid of all living things.

The lighthouse was right in the middle of the wee island, so Ponce made it a point to get up at the top of that very lighthouse and to light it up as any good seaman should, since there was a hurricane on its way. He thought it best to illuminate the way for any lost ships, and one cannot blame him for wanting to help his fellow seamen.

Light up the tower he did, and by the time the sun went down, Ponce and his men took shelter to wait out the hurricane.

Now, he and his men did not know when the hurricane would hit and since there wasn’t much else to do, they started to sing as they tried to fish for their meal.”

“Singing while fishing?” Jongin interrupted. “Not something most fishermen would recommend,” he said dryly. “Aye, but they never did catch any fish,” Baekhyun replied, a sly smile on his face. Sehun tapped his hand and asked, “What song did they sing?”

Baekhyun chuckled at his curious expression. “You’ll probably know this song:  _my heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold…”_

“There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold,” Jongin finished. He was familiar with the song. Jongin couldn’t think of anyone who didn’t. Baekhyun looked smug as he continued his story.

“Every sailor knows this song, ain’t it? So sing they did throughout the night as the lighthouse blazed on, waiting for a fish to bite on their bait. ‘Twasn’t long before a fish did come along, making ripples around their boat like a shark as its large tail swam around the boat, sending shivers down the men’s backs…

One of Ponce’s men had been singing his heart out when he noticed the tail swishing around and fell silent, but what happened next surprised all of them.

A woman had emerged from the waters before him, as beautiful as a dream of heaven, or so Ponce De Leon described in his books. None of the men knew what sort of creature she was, but her beauty was like no other and they fell under her spell as she spoke: ‘Are you the one who sings?’

Her voice was like that of an angel, bewitching the men just as her beauty did. The man who had been singing nodded like a fool at her question, and she smiled, pleased with herself. Her green eyes beckoned him to come closer as her lips fell open and she placed a hand over his face. ‘Are you my jolly sailor bold?’”

Jongin felt a shiver down his spine, even though he didn’t know why. He leaned closer unconsciously towards Baekhyun, whose voice dropped lower as his story progressed further.

“Ponce De Leon had never heard of mermaids before then, and he knew not how this woman with a fish’s tail could sing with such a pure voice. Sang she did, and had them all under her spell as her voice hypnotized the men while she slowly sank into the water.

The mermaid had his man’s face in her hands, lips inviting him to have a kiss when he suddenly shrieked under water, bubbles appearing from around his face. That snapped Ponce De Leon out of her spell and he hacked at her with an oar in an attempt to save his crew. But it was too late; blood started to appear in the water and before he knew it, his boat was slowly crushed by other mermaids, puncturing holes into the bottom of the boat to sink him and his men.

Ponce’s men were all taken by the mermaids except for hisself who swam away in all the commotion and threw himself at the seashore, his close brush with death shaking him violently.”

“What happened next?” Jongin asked softly.

“He knew he could not sail away from the island when there was a hurricane coming, so he made his way to the lighthouse, the only place where he felt certain the mermaids could not reach him and waited till dawn to sail, mermaids be damned. Ponce De Leon realized that the island was haunted by these foul creatures and wrote about it in his books to warn all seamen of this island which he named Whitecap Bay; the island with a white lighthouse.”

“How did he know he wouldn’t be attacked by the mermaids at dawn?” Jongin asked. Baekhyun snapped his fingers.

“See, he wasn’t the only man to have ever made port there and neither was he the only one who survived. Nay, he found a handful of men who had more or less the same experience and they all made the same mistake; lighting the lighthouse at night. The mermaids are attracted to man made light, you see, and they keep well out of the sun to avoid being captured. But being safe was not enough, the sea lasses still liked to feel the heat of the day even if it was only a small speck of light from a lighthouse.”

Jongin could hardly believe the story Baekhyun had just told them, but it seemed like all of the others accepted it as a warning that the sea harboured all sorts of strange creatures. True or not, like Sehun said; it was best not to test your luck at sea.

“There’s only one thing the mermaids are good for, you know,” Chanyeol said jokingly. Jongin looked at him. “What is it?”

“If you’ve been kissed by a mermaid and presuming you’re not dead after that happens, some say that you’ll never drown with your head underwater.”

“Is that true?” Jongin said dryly. Sehun yawned, stretching his arms. “That’s what they say anyway. I think I’ll retire now. Anyone willing to join me?” he asked. Junmyeon volunteered to clear their bottles of rum and told Jongin to get some sleep.

“I’ll be staying to keep watch with Chanyeol. Try to sleep with that story in your head now,” Junmyeon teased. Jongin laughed and thanked him.  _It’s just an old story_ , he thought.  _Nothing more._

When Jongin fell into a deep sleep, he dreamt of a mermaid singing to him as it swam close to shore, a lighthouse shining a beam of light in his peripheral view.

*

The next day, to Jongin’s dismay, Junmyeon banged on Jongin’s cabin door, yelling for him to get up.

“Alright, alright, it’s bad luck to wake a sleeping man,” Jongin muttered, sitting up in bed reluctantly. He went over to unlock the door and Suho barged in like a man crazed, panic written all across his face.

“This is terrible, Jongin, terrible indeed—”

“What is?” Jongin asked. His eyes felt like they were glued together. He lifted a hand to rub at his eyes just as his body tipped to one side dangerously and his head spun dizzily.

“Whoa, I must’ve had too much to drink last night,” Jongin stumbled across the cabin clumsily. Junmyeon grunted and tripped over a few things as he reached out his hands to grab Jongin by the shoulders. “Wake  _up_ , Jongin, there’s a storm coming,” he shook Jongin furiously.

“What storm?” Jongin asked, the magnitude of Junmyeon’s sentence hitting him a second too late. It was only then he could hear the sound of thunder clapping loudly above them, and the entire cabin lurched upwards, tipping them both over on their feet. “This storm!” Junmyeon cried, rolling across the floor with his hands over his head.

“But it was fine last night!” Jongin yelled, grasping at the wooden planks of the floor to avoid crashing into things.

“It came out of nowhere at dawn and it’s too late to turn back,” Junmyeon cried, standing up and running towards the door when the cabin tipped the other way.

“Is there any land?” Jongin shouted, reaching out a hand to Junmyeon. He pulled Jongin up and pushed him out on deck, into cold and blistering rain, while the ship’s bowstrip pointed upwards and dropped back down heavily onto the waves.

“Not for at least another eighty miles!” Junmyeon replied him, rushing over to the wheel, turning in mad circles as the sea claimed control over the ship. Jongin stumbled over to where Jongdae and Sehun were trying to control the sails without ripping it apart. “How long has this storm been goin’ on?” Jongin yelled at Sehun.

“Only about five minutes and I’m ready to drop dead! Jongin, listen, there’s a barren island only about a mile through this storm, and if we can make it there, we can just wait for the storm to pass!”

“What if there are mermaids?!” Jongin yelled crossly at him, feeling like it was too soon after that mermaid story for him to feel like it was okay to stop by a desolate island.  

“There isn’t a lighthouse on the island!” Sehun replied him, laughing despite the circumstances. “I’ve passed it countless times, and I’ve never seen a lighthouse there.”

A wave of water washed up onboard, and soaked them through and through. Chanyeol scrambled up to the forecastle deck with a telescope to see if there was somewhere they could land. Rain beat at Jongin’s face as he gripped the taut rope in his hands, struggling with the sails.

Chanyeol suddenly turned around and waved at Junmyeon who was trying to steer the wheel. “Don’t—forward!” They could hardly hear him from all the rain and thunder around them.

Junmyeon squinted at Chanyeol, keeping the ship on a straight path. Chanyeol ran down the steps of the forecastle deck, putting his hands up and pointing to the left frantically. “There are rocks up ahead! Turn the ship away!” Chanyeol hollered at Junmyeon.

Jongin was filled with horror when he heard what Chanyeol said, and tried to see through all the rain and flashes of lightning. True enough, he saw a large, sharp boulder up ahead just in time before the right side of Providence crashed into it, wood splintering and flying in the air as the boulder ripped out the Providence’s side. The ship shuddered, causing Jongin to slip and slide on the wet wooden floor. He gripped the rope in his hand hard, because he knew if he let go he might fly over board into the tumultuous sea.

Junmyeon, too late, tried to steer the ship towards the left but the waves pushed against Providence, threatening to turn it upside down and send it to Davy Jones’ Locker. Luckily, no one seemed to be hurt when Jongin looked around, as everyone was holding onto something when the ship struck the boulder.

It seemed the ship’s bottom was still relatively unharmed because the ship was still floating on the harsh waves, but Jongin didn’t know how long their luck would last before Providence would run into more boulders or worst, went through a reef. Then it’d be all over for them, and it would be on Jongin’s hands for bringing them all out to sea.

“Sehun, where did you say the island was?” Jongin shouted.

“We’re going the wrong way, there’s no use now!” Sehun yelled. For two long minutes, everyone was silent while the world seemed to pitch in all directions, tilting this way and that until suddenly, the entire ship shuddered beneath Jongin’s feet once more.

“We’ve hit some rocks!” Chanyeol yelled, looking over the edge of the ship. Jongin prayed fervently that he would see land soon, or at least survive this storm.  _This isn’t how I want to go_ , Jongin thought, pulling at the sails. As if things couldn’t get any worse, he heard a terrible rip from above him as Providence tipped to the right and Jongdae lost grip on the sails, falling down on the slippery deck.

“We’re going down! Abandon ship!” Junmyeon yelled at them. Jongin didn’t want to believe it, that his beloved Providence would be sinking into the depths of the ocean, but Sehun was already yanking him away from the ropes. A deafening crack resounded all around them, and it wasn’t thunder.

“We need to get into a longboat now, before we all drown!”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol untied a longboat and quickly got into it, gripping their oars tightly as they waved the others to hurry up.

“I don’t think Providence will survive the next wave,” Jongdae screamed, climbing into the longboat and tumbling over his head when the boat suddenly moved upwards. Using the momentum from the ship, Sehun and Jongin jumped the last few feet towards the longboat just as the ship leaned to the right, and the longboat was dumped onto the sea.

Jongin half expected to splash into water and be dragged down into the sea along with the Providence, but to his surprise he landed heavily on the edge of the longboat and was pulled safely aboard by Chanyeol.

The waves from the Providence crashing into the sea pushed them away as Jongin watched his family’s prized ship break into large pieces of wood easily like a cracker, bits of deck and mast littering the surface of the water.

“We’ve done what we could,” Baekhyun said to Jongin, putting a hand on his arm. Jongin had to look away from them, feeling a heavy feeling in his heart. How would he explain to his parents about Providence’s death? With the ship, it felt like hope was slowly sinking down into the sea as well, taking away every last shred of hope in their hearts.

They sat in threes on either side of the boat solemnly to try and even their weight on the boat as the sea started pushed and pulled them left and right, threatening to sink them just as it did the Providence. It was a long time since Jongin last prayed, but he begged God to save him and his friends because he knew now it was a terrible mistake to have ever left Collinsport.

“Where are we headed?” Jongdae asked Junmyeon. “I think we’re back on the right path now, but we’ll have to see once the storm settles,” he answered. The rain slowly turned into a drizzle, but the waves were still dangerous and large, ice cold splashing over them.

Jongin and his friends started to row when the thunder and lightning started to abate, rowing furiously through the dark, angry waters in an effort to survive. “One… Two! One… Two,” Junmyeon shouted to time their rows as they slowly moved away from Providence’s grave.

After an entire hour of rowing till his arms and joints were screaming in pain, the grey sky suddenly broke out and blue peeked through the clouds, lighting up their dark and dreary course.

Jongin felt bone tired and disappointed that Providence could not last the hour to see the Sun in the sky, shining like everything was still fine. He kept mum the entire trip, eyes downcast as his crew started to keep a weather eye out for land.

“Hey, Jongin,” Sehun said, tapping him on the shoulder. “Mm?”

“Don’t beat yourself up about the Providence. She was trying too, just like all of us,” Sehun said softly.

“If we tried harder, maybe you could’ve been saying this to me on the Providence,” Jongin mumbled, feeling tears burning behind his eyelids. But this was no time to cry; it was time to man up and wipe the sweat from his brow to see what the sea would throw at them next.

“Not all is lost though,” Baekhyun said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a sodden bag filled with something. He jangled its contents in his hand and Jongin almost felt his tears spill over when he recognized the sound of gold coins clinking against one another. “I saved the money while you were all working hard. I had a feeling that we might’ve crashed,” Baekhyun said, handing the coins to Jongin.

“So if there’s land, we might still be able to buy ourselves a trip back to Collinsport,” Jongdae said, trying to cheer Jongin up. He smiled weakly, keeping the bag in his lap.

“That might happen sooner than you think,” Junmyeon said, sniffing the air. Jongin looked up, trying to see if there was any land. “Can you smell land?” Jongin asked excitedly.

“From the strange smell of whale in the air, maybe there  _is_  land. But we’ll have to row a bit more to see if there’s really a place to dock or if it’s just dead whale on the sea,” Junmyeon said. Jongin hoped it was the former, and his strength was renewed at the thought of finding a place to dock.

“Have you travelled these waters before?” Baekhyun asked Junmyeon.

“No, but something tells me it wouldn’t be wrong to hope for land,” Junmyeon said, cracking a smile, the first anyone has ever done that on the longboat.

“By golly, there’s Isla de Sirena!” Chanyeol screamed.

“What? Where?” Jongin jerked out of his momentary lapse into unconsciousness. They’d been floating aimlessly for hours now, and the sun was high up in the sky, drying them out like dead fish left out in the sun to shrivel up. Lethargy had claimed Jongdae first, while it dropped on Jongin ten minutes ago.

All of their lips were cracked and white from what Jongin could see, but all of them were smiling in half disbelief half joy as they looked somewhere behind Jongin in awe.

He twisted around to see if Isla de Sirena was a figment of their fervent imaginations, but there it was, against all odds; a speck of white, dry sand and tall trees swaying in the wind. Jongin practically jumped and kicked about in joy, almost dropping his bag of coins into the sea were it not for Sehun who caught it by its drawstrings just in time.

“Is it an island in the map?” Jongin asked Chanyeol excitedly. They faltered for a moment. “Well, it’s not, since it’s actually too small to be on a map but if we start a fire and send a smoke signal up, we might be able to get help,” Chanyeol said weakly.

“If you know the name of the island then ships might sail past it,” Jongdae said.

“I only know it because I’ve read it in a book. They say the sands are pure white and there’s a broken lighthouse—” he cut himself when he realized how similar the island sounded to the legendary Whitecap Bay. “It’s called Isla De Sirena ‘cause it’s shaped like an S,” he finished lamely.

“Well, what do you know? I think the English or Spanish people might’ve claimed this island because what do I see in the trees? A bloody lighthouse,” Sehun snapped. They squinted and stood up on the boat, straining to look over the trees. The wind blew through the trees, and like Sehun said, Jongin could see the roof of a lighthouse, a smudge of red among the green leaves.

“But it was just a story, surely there can’t be mermaids in these waters. Just look at how clear and blue it is,” Jongin said. He could see right through the water beneath the boat, and he couldn’t picture a pretty mermaid swimming up to their boat and asking them in a breathy voice, “Are you my jolly sailor bold?” It was just too impossible, and he’d rather risk flesh eating mermaids rather than another storm. Nay, he could never go through with that again. 

“There aren’t any abandoned houses though,” Baekhyun commented.

“Well, I don’t care if you lot want to stay on this boat another second because I need to get on land, mermaid infested waters or not,” Jongin said crossly. He splashed into the shallow waters and waded his way to the white, sandy shore of Isla De Sirena.

Jongin sat down on the sand as his crew rowed the boat to shore, sighing heavily as he looked up at the blue sky. It was a miracle they all survived that storm with only bruises and cuts instead of broken bones. Now all they would need to do is get some wood and start building a fire.

A seagull’s cry suddenly interrupted Jongin’s thoughts as to how long they might have to wait here on this island. Junmyeon and the others looked up at the sky too, noticing quite a number of seagulls flying above them.

“Do you think there are people on this island?” Jongin called. Junmyeon shook his head, expression grave. “I think a dead whale washed up ashore on the other side of the island. Didn’t notice the seagulls just now,” Junmyeon said. It was true; all of them were so caught up with the island that they hadn’t noticed seagulls flying with bits of flesh in their beaks above the trees.

“Should we check it out?” Jongdae asked Junmyeon. They got out of the boat once it struck the sand, and hauled it out of the water together wearily.

“Maybe after some rest,” Junmyeon said. “I’ll say,” Jongin commented. Just beyond the shore was a thick jungle of trees, but there was a small path covered with dried leaves. They’d look around later, after they’ve had a year’s worth of sleep.

Most of them collapsed on the ground once the boat was tipped over to dry its bottom, including Jongin. He tucked the bag of money under his arm just in case and fell asleep with the rest of his crew beside him, nodding off quickly. The last thing he heard from Junmyeon was, “Someone needs to take watch.”

*

The loud cry of seagulls woke Jongin up from his dreams. He opened his eyes to a dark blue sky, a velvet carpet dotted with stars and a pale half moon. Jongin looked around to find his crew still sleeping, so he groggily crawled towards the water, splashing his face with briny seawater.

_Wonder if a ship passed us by_ , Jongin thought, moving slowly like he was in a dream. His limbs felt so heavy and worn out; how was he supposed to collect wood for a fire, much less try to look for food?

He hummed a song almost unconsciously to himself, taking off his shirt and flinging it aside to wade in the water for awhile just to freshen himself up. The water was warm, clear too, even though it was night time, so no mermaid could swim up to him and pop a surprise upon him.

_Don’t be silly_ , he chastised himself.  _It’s just a small island with a lighthouse. It isn’t even called Whitecap Bay._

Unless whichever country decided to rename the place.

Jongin dipped his head into the water to wet his hair, thinking about the possibilities that this island could be Whitecap Bay. Ponce De Leon was a real man, yes, but he was also considered quite mad. Perhaps he had just imagined the entire thing and written it all down in a memoir, mistaking it for real memories?

_It’d be lovely to get a kiss from a mermaid though_ , Jongin thought. Belay that; it’d be interesting enough if he even saw one. If mermaids were as beautiful as they said, then it would be a lovely sight, though he would prefer it if he only saw one from a distance.

About half an hour later, Baekhyun woke up in a fright, squawking loudly because he was dreaming of something. Jongin had already left the water by that time and was seated by his men, keeping watch for any ships that might pass by. “What were you dreaming of?” Jongin asked offhandedly to Baekhyun.

“I dreamt that we were rescued by mermaids who told us to sit on their backs as they swam across the Atlantic. Frightful but morbidly fascinating,” Baekhyun said at once.

“You do realize you are not in fact, Captain Jack Sparrow?” Jongin said, referring to a notorious pirate from the past. Baekhyun squinted at him in a weird way. “Or am I?” he asked. Jongin laughed at his reaction.

“Baekhyun, I’d like to know something about these mermaids,” Jongin said quietly. He was honestly curious, and felt like the question wouldn’t go away unless someone answered it for him. Baekhyun yawned and stretched languidly, turning his head from left to right to stretch his neck.

“What is it?”

“Are these creatures really… as beautiful as they say?”

Baekhyun paused, staring at the sea blankly. “Well, according to legends they’re beautiful on their own being mythical sea creatures and all, but I’ve heard rumours that they take on different forms at times. They look different to every person but no matter what form they’re in, these mermaids remain beautiful to the eyes of the beholder.”

“So you mean Ponce De Leon saw a woman, but it could’ve been a hideous creature the entire time?” Jongin asked.

“That’s right, yeah. Some men say in their real form they’ve got translucent scales over their arms and all, just like a fish.”

Jongin never knew that. These mermaids were much more magical than Jongin initially thought. Unfortunately, magic did not serve as a plausible explanation to Jongin. The stories were starting to sound more like fairy tales even if Baekhyun claimed they ain’t.

“What do you think you’ll see if mermaids were real?” Jongin asked jokingly.

Jongdae turned over, eyes wide open. “A piranha,” he said flatly. Baekhyun snorted. “You’re supposed to find them aesthetically appealing to the eyes, mate. Unless ye like them flesh eaters?” Baekhyun asked.

Jongdae shrugged, sitting up and stretching his arms by reaching for his toes. “I reckon if I see one, I wouldn’t think to hit it with an oar or something right away,” he said.

Jongin pouted. That sounded cruel, but bit down on that remark. The mermaids were very hungry, from what Jongin could gather, but to hit it sounded like animal abuse. It’d be like hitting a carnivorous horse.

“Oh, I know that look, Jongin. You feel sorry for them creatures?” Baekhyun asked, watching him carefully.

“I don’t know. They’re just looking for food after all,” Jongin said, drawing circles on the sand. Jongdae snorted, kicking some sand at Chanyeol to wake him up. “I wouldn’t want to be fish food, just so you know.”

Neither did Jongin. He tried to shake off his pity for those creatures; they’re probably not real anyway.

“Should we go fishing then?” Jongin asked. Baekhyun looked at the sea and then at the trees. “Maybe we should just hunt for an animal or something like that,” Baekhyun said. Jongdae agreed. “If a country has claimed this place, maybe they stop by this island occasionally for supplies.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened at the prospect of not starving before they could be rescued. “Maybe they keep it at the lighthouse?”

Jongdae and Baekhyun quickly got excited between themselves, inadvertently pushing Jongin out of the conversation. “Let’s go see if there’s food!” Jongdae said, rushing towards the path through the trees.

“Get some wood too!” Jongin called after them as they scampered off. Jongin chuckled to himself, his two friends disappearing through the trees. Chanyeol and Sehun heard the commotion and soon they were up, yawning and muttering blearily under their breaths. “What happened?” Sehun asked, his lips a thin flat line.

“Nothing, Jongdae and Baekhyun are going to see if the lighthouse harbours any food,” Jongin said nonchalantly. Junmyeon was starting to wake up as well. “As much as I’d like to think fishing is the most sensible choice, eating canned food doesn’t actually sound too bad,” Sehun said.

“Why? Because you’re afraid there’ll be mermaids in these waters?” Chanyeol snickered.

“How often is there a lighthouse on an island in the middle of nowhere?” Sehun retorted. He had a point that was hard to disprove. They couldn’t even say that such an island didn’t exist considering they were seeking refuge on one now.

“I’m sure it’s just a little pile of sand, nothing more. And not all islands have a lighthouse on it, that’s true, but just take a look at these waters. Do you really think a mermaid would attack if it’s this clear?”

“How would we know, Ponce De Leon never said anything about how murky or how clear the waters were,” Sehun snorted, laughing at Chanyeol already. Junmyeon woke up at that moment, rubbing his eyes with his hands (which were a bit sandy, unfortunately for him).

“Can one of you good lads get some wood to make torches instead of standing around talking about mermaids?” Junmyeon said while stumbling to his feet to wash his face with some water.

Sehun pushed him into the right direction and quickly moved away from Junmyeon as he tripped over a dried branch and fell into the water with a loud yell. Jongin quickly followed Sehun’s example and picked up a wooden branch, pretending to consider if it was dry or damp. Chanyeol was the only one laughing at Junmyeon tumbling into the sea, so when he finally got the sand out of his eyes, he glared at Chanyeol balefully.

“That was uncalled for,” he said flatly, hair flattened against his head like seaweed.

“Tell that to Sehun,” Chanyeol said, betraying Sehun right away. Sehun dropped all pretences and fled into the trees at once, yelling, “Mutiny! Mutiny most foul!”

Jongin started laughing at first but quickly ran through the trees once Junmyeon got up to chase all of them regardless whether or not they pushed him into the water. Branches caught at Jongin’s hair and clothes as he skipped over overgrown roots while yelping like a little girl, too scared of Junmyeon to be afraid of what the trees might be concealing in its shadows.

When Jongin emerged on the other side of the island, he could hardly believe he was still on the same island as he tore down the white strip of sand. The lighthouse, first of all, was much larger than he thought. It loomed high above him, tall and white. Obviously, it had just been repainted; there was no other explanation to explain how a tower painted white could still retain its colour at sea.

Then he saw the pier the British or Spanish people had built, leading from the lighthouse to about fifty feet out into the sea. Piers usually meant people did stop by this place sometime—no matter the country— so it was a good sign. But just beyond the pier, there was a gigantic lump of grey with seagulls pecking at it.

Jongin turned around and waited for Junmyeon to catch up to him. “Is that a rock? Tell me it’s a rock.”

“It’s a whale. I told you a whale washed up ashore,” Junmyeon said, breathing heavily as he stared at the whale. Baekhyun and Chanyeol emerged from the lighthouse with lamps, waving at them from across the beach.

“Are you saying you could smell this thing from the sea?” Jongin asked. Junmyeon looked smug as they walked together towards the lighthouse, their chase already forgotten. “If you grow up by the sea long enough you’ll know how to detect the difference in the way the sea smells.”

“I don’t believe you. You were just guessing back on the boat, ain’t ya? Then you saw the seagulls,” Jongin accused. Junmyeon shrugged without replying Jongin.

“Do you think we’ll be saved soon?” Jongin asked.

“Can’t really say about soon, But I  _do_  think that if we light up the lighthouse, we might increase our chances of survival,” Junmyeon pointed out. Jongin stared at him. “I’d risk the mermaids rather than dying out here, Jongin,” Junmyeon said wryly.

Jongin turned to look at the lighthouse again. “Maybe if we point it towards the sea, far into the distance…” If they were taken and drowned by flesh eating creatures, no one would ever know. Lighting up the lighthouse was like pushing their luck, but Jongin decided to keep it to himself for now. If the light wasn’t so bright then maybe the mermaids wouldn’t even come.  _If, if, if,_  Jongin mused to himself. When did life become so uncertain? All he wanted was to sail to the western islands.

At the lighthouse, the others were chattering excitedly, lamps in their hands.

“Is there anything we can use in the lighthouse?” Jongin asked Sehun. “We found these lamps, barrels of water and a few fishing rods. We could try and fish for dinner. And also, we were thinking of—”

“Turning on the lighthouse?” Jongin guessed. Baekhyun nodded excitedly. “Damn those mermaids, I say. No one knows we’re on this island unless we send a signal, right?”

Jongin looked up at the lighthouse. It was blindingly white upclose, and it wouldn’t be a long wait if they lit the lighthouse to signal for help. There was no way any ship could miss it.

“Hmm. Maybe we  _should_  give it a try,” Jongin said.

“Let’s do it. Let’s all get up and light the white thing!” Baekhyun held up a fist in the air. Jongin’s gut told him not to test their luck. They had survived a storm along with some money but nothing good ever lasts for long; why should it be any different now? Despite his personal doubts, Jongin bit down on his tongue when everyone agreed that they should get to the top of the lighthouse. It was his fault they were all here in the first place although no one said anything about it.

“Does anyone here know how to light the device up there?” Jongin asked. Jongdae shrugged. “Can’t be that hard. If there isn’t a keeper on the island, it usually means it’s easy to light,” Jongdae said.

“Oh. Well, shall we crack on then?” Jongin said. They all filed into a line, entering the small (notably unlocked) doorway of the lighthouse, deciding that after they light the thing up, half of them would start fishing while the other three would build a fire.

“I’ll build a fire,” Baekhyun volunteered. His voice bounced and echoed at all of them as they climbed the steps of the spiralling staircase leading up to the top floor of the lighthouse.

“I’m not the sort who can sit and wait for fish to bite without talking for long hours.” Sehun volunteered to fish and Jongin said he’d fish too. “Gonna see if I can’t catch meself a mermaid,” Sehun chuckled.

After climbing seventy steps to the very top of the lighthouse, all six of them found themselves staring at a vat of what smelled like foul oil and a large tank built above the oil.

“That’s whale oil,” Jongdae sniffed. “Burns without fail. Rain must’ve gotten in here and doused the flames out,” Jongdae said, pointing at the puddles of water at their feet. “Won’t it splatter if we light it up now?” Baekhyun asked, eyeing the vat of oil suspiciously. There were small droplets of water sitting on the upper surface of the oil when Jongin looked closer.

“We’ll see then, won’t we?” Jongdae smirked. It was all the warning Baekhyun received before Jongdae lifted the lamp in his hand and opened it up, picking up the candle inside and bringing it very close to the surface of the oil.

The vat lit up in a burst of flame instantly and Baekhyun shrieked at the top of his lungs, jumping into Sehun’s arms and hiding behind his tall figure while the oil caught the flames and started to burn. Everyone stepped away from the oil, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

Jongdae laughed at their reaction, stepping away from the oil and reaching for something above him. It was a large piece of concave glass that Jongin hadn’t noticed, and he pulled it down, allowing it to hang between the flames and the view of the sea. Catching light from the flames, the glass reflected light towards the sea in an orange beam.

“Well. Certainly works fine,” Chanyeol said, standing towards the edge of the balcony to see how far the beam went. With a steady source of light, Jongin doubted any ship would miss the light. Heat sweltered rapidly in the room, warming their skin. “You said it’d burn without going out easily?” Junmyeon asked. Jongdae nodded.

“Excellent. Saves us the trouble of making a smoke signal, mm?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Isla de Sirena

While waiting for something to nibble on Jongin’s fishing rod, Jongin soon realized what Baekhyun meant by not being able to sit still for a relatively long time. He felt pent up somehow, like he was waiting for something to happen.

And he couldn’t talk very much because it’d scare all the fish away, but he had to  _do_  something. It wasn’t like being on one of his father’s fishing boats; all they needed to do was to throw a large net into the sea and spend a few hours on the boat, chit chatting or playing cards or  _do something_ while waiting for the fish to be caught in their nets. But this was worse; the only company he had onboard were either seated with both hands holding the fishing rod without moving or fidgeting with his fingers so hard that Jongin couldn’t possibly concentrate on being calm.  

“This feels terrible,” Jongin whispered to Sehun. “It shouldn’t take this long for a fish to come along, surely?” Sehun murmured back, tapping a foot. Junmyeon hushed them into silence. Jongin decided to place his fishing rod down and stretch his arms a bit, trying not to jolt the line.

“Don’t rock the boat,” Junmyeon murmured.  

Jongin ignored him, warming up every muscle he could. They weren’t that far away from the island and Jongin thought that maybe there wasn’t any fish this close to shore. Fish tended to avoid land, after all.

Then again, if Junmyeon said this spot was alright, it had to be alright. Jongin slumped down a bit, leaning on one side of the boat to hold his head up in his hand while he closed his eyes, swaying and bobbing on the water surface soothingly. Sehun saw what Jongin did and changed positions on the boat, facing the left side of the sea instead of Jongin across him while clutching his fishing rod between his hands.

Junmyeon audibly sighed at the both of them, but didn’t say anything. They sat like that for a long while without talking or moving very much.

After fifteen minutes or so, Jongin suddenly opened his eyes.

His eyes fluttered momentarily over Sehun and Junmyeon’s still figures. He didn’t know why he opened his eyes; nothing much had changed in terms of scenery. Jongin’s rod jolted for a moment, and he stared at it.

“Might be a fish,” Junmyeon whispered, gesturing for him to check over the side of the boat.

Jongin picked his rod up numbly, reeling in the line to see if something struggled on the other side. Something did pull at him and Jongin looked over the edge of the boat, spotting something glimmering in the water.

“I think I’ve got one,” Jongin grunted, tugging on the line. He reeled the line in as best as he could as the fish struggled against him, fighting to go in the other direction. “Is it a big one?” Sehun asked.

“Feels like it,” Jongin replied, giving his rod a hard tug. Bluish green scales floated towards the surface of the water for a moment, like the fish was going to give up. Jongin was about to swipe the fish out of the water with his hands, but the fish suddenly pulled away, taking his rod with itself. The scales disappeared from the surface, dark waters hiding its escape from Jongin’s view.

“Did you just let go of the rod?” Junmyeon asked flatly. Jongin sputtered. “It’s not like I intentionally let it go. The fish didn’t move for a moment so I thought I’d reach down and catch it with my hands but it pulled my rod just like that—”

“Then you’ll just have to sit down and wait for us, hmm?” Sehun asked, smiling at him. Jongin sighed, laughing half heartedly. “I didn’t think I’d do this badly at fishing,” he remarked. Junmyeon chuckled, reeling in his line a bit. “It’s different when it’s a rod, not a net.”

That left Jongin with absolutely nothing to do but wait for the two of them to catch something, drumming his fingers over the edge of the boat absently.

Luckily for him, Junmyeon caught two fish soon after and Sehun didn’t catch a fish, but rather a crab… Strange, but they took what they could get and returned to the island, where the others already had a lovely, warm fire blazing away on the opposite end of the island, away from the dead whale.

“Saw you thrashing about with your catch,” Jongdae chuckled when they approached the fire. Jongin huffed a laugh of embarrassment, looking down at his feet. “Was it a mermaid?” Jongdae asked, taking Junmyeon and Sehun’s catch.

“Maybe,” Jongin joked, playing along. He sat down by the fire, mentally exhausted from the fishing. He’d rather collect wood than fish the next time and said as much to all of them around the fire. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were exercising together while seated on the sand, counting one, two, three to themselves.

“Hopefully, we won’t have to be here too long. The whale hasn’t putrefied yet, but once it does it’s going to smell around here,” Junmyeon said. Jongdae staked the fish and the crab on a stick each, placing them against a large log to let it cook gently over the fire. “Then we should eat while the seagulls are distracted, wouldn’t you say so?” Jongdae said. Sehun stared thoughtfully at the fire for a moment.

“Dinner will be tasteless,” he muttered mournfully. Baekhyun looked at him pointedly, an arm on his waist while he stretched the other arm over his head. “I think there are worse things to worry about than a bland meal.”

“Oh, like not being fit enough?” Sehun snapped. Jongin laughed. Maybe Sehun wasn’t the smartest among them, but his sharp tongue certainly made up for it.

“Oi, if we look too healthy then whoever’s going to save us will think we’ve been having too much fun here,” Baekhyun said, turning his upper body from left to right now.

“Perhaps we should worry if we will be saved first,” Jongdae said dryly. Jongin listened quietly as Sehun and Baekhyun argued good naturedly with one another. Being stuck on this island wasn’t as bad one might’ve thought; at least they had each other for company. For now, he couldn’t find it in himself to really worry, like being on this island meant being free from worries somehow. Someone  _had_  to sail past this island sometime. All they could do was wait.

*

After dinner, the lads decided to take a walk around the island to see if there wasn’t anything else they could find, excluding Jongin who wanted to take a walk along the short pier instead. What if a ship sailed past the island while all of them were on the other side? Besides, after all the talking and laughing they did around the fire, Jongin was ready for some peace and quiet.

 Jongin didn’t walk for very long before he finally sat at the end of the pier, legs swinging over the edge as he tried to guess how far the beam from the lighthouse travelled. It pierced through the mist over the sea, but whether it could be seen for miles was a question Jongin couldn’t answer. He didn’t mind staying on this island for a week or so, but forever with five of his friends could drive him crazy. Then maybe he’d write about his adventure at sea, and become known as the mad sailor, much like Ponce De Leon.

His feet toed the water as he fiddled with his thumbs, lost in his thoughts. Jongin stared at his reflection for quite some time, watching as the water refracted whenever his toes broke the surface of the water.

“ _My name is Maria, a merchant’s daughter fair,”_ Jongin sang to himself, voice low and husky to keep the atmosphere as quiet as possible. He drew his legs up to his chest, head placed on his knees. The water trembled below him as the wind blew gently.

“ _I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year._ ” Jongin watched as his reflection slowly shivered into broken little parts, distorting his own image. “ _My heart is pierced by Cupid… I disdain all glittering gold_ ,” he continued, mesmerized by how his reflection slowly pieced itself together as the wind slowly died down.

“ _There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold_ ,” Jongin finished, voice wavering towards the end. He never did well at singing.

Jongin was still staring at his reflection below him, when suddenly, out of the blue, the water rippled.

A flash of bluish green scales swam inches from the surface, impossible yet familiar. A sharp intake of breath, and the scales disappeared the same way it did when Jongin was fishing. Could it be the same fish?

 _That’s impossible_ , he thought. How could it be the exact same fish?  _It’s just another fish_ , Jongin thought. Another fish with the exact same shade of bluish green scales, nothing more... Yes that was it. He backed away from the edge of the pier nevertheless, watching for any signs of movement.

 _It can’t be the exact same species of fish surely_ , Jongin thought to himself. Unless… No. They were just a myth.

 _Don’t be silly, Jongin, it can’t be a mermaid_ , Jongin berated himself. He was thinking about this far too seriously.

A movement in his peripheral view caught his eye and he glanced up almost fearfully.  

Jongin’s mouth dropped in horror and shock, scrambling to his feet as he tried to make sense of what his eyes were seeing. “B-But…” he stuttered aloud, legs wobbling before he fell on his feet.

 He couldn’t quite believe it. He had to be over thinking this to the point of hallucination, over worrying and letting fear grab hold the best of him but— why was there a creature with a human face regarding him intently with intelligent bright eyes?

“I—I don’t…” The power of speech was beyond Jongin now. The mermaid—It swam closer to the pier cautiously, watching him closely.

“I heard you singing,” it said softly, a trace of a strange accent in its voice. Jongin didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to admit what he was seeing with his eyes, but this creature before him was truly beautiful, in every sense of the word. Its heart shaped lips were a charming shade of shell pink, its dark hair slicked back from the water. In the moonlight, the creature’s skin was a bright and healthy color, not something Jongin expected from a mermaid.

 _How can something so vicious by nature be so captivating_? Jongin asked himself. It looked so… so human.

It cocked its head to one side, waiting for Jongin to say something. “Are you…?” Jongin said dumbly, not daring to blink. Since Jongin hadn’t moved an inch, the creature swam a bit closer, placing its arms over the edge of the pier to watch him some more.

“Yes?”

Jongin tried to snap of it, tried not to stare at the way its scaly, flesh colored arms glimmered in the moonlight.

“Are you what I think you are?” Jongin asked, mouth dry. It was a good enough question; if he was going to die now he might as well die with the knowledge that mermaids —or at least this creature— was a real being.

The creature’s eyes twinkled in amusement. “What  _do_  you think I am?”  _Oh, so it’s toying with me now?_  Jongin thought in amazement. Why weren’t any of his lads here to see it yet?

“A—a mermaid?” Jongin said, his tone questioning.

“Mm. It has been long since I’ve seen one of your kind this close,” it said to him, somewhat flirtatiously. Was this a ploy to get him to come closer?

“I—I won’t let you eat me,” Jongin said, trying to sound brave. “I’ve heard stories of  _your kind_ , and forgive me if the stories don’t warrant gracious treatment from me,” he said, voice shaky as he spoke. The twinkle in its eyes disappeared.

“I’m not here to… take you away,” it said, sounding upset that Jongin would think of it in such a way. Water splashed softly somewhere beneath the pier, reminding Jongin that this creature was all too real.

“Then why are you here?” Jongin asked, swallowing the lump in his throat. He hid his hands away from view so that the creature couldn’t see that he was trembling from head to toe.

“To hear you sing,” it said simply. “You  _were_  singing, weren’t you? I’d like to hear more,” it said, an assessing tone to its voice. “I wasn’t singing for your enjoyment,” Jongin said snappishly. The creature looked taken aback.

“And anyway, you took my rod with you,” Jongin said, clearing his throat. “I recognize your scales.” The creature smiled just a little, and Jongin thought he’d die in that moment; its smile was just too much for him to stomach. “You caught my tail when I was swimming under your vessel,” it said to him, tone bright at once.

Jongin felt like he’d just been shot. “I… caught you?” He had literally caught a mermaid?  

The creature murmured a yes. “It was very painful for me. But I can forgive that, if you’d sing for me,” it said expectantly.

“The minute I finish singing, you’ll eat me, won’t you?” Jongin asked. The creature looked upset again. “I will do no such thing. It has been too long since I last heard a voice like yours,” it said softly, eyes gauging Jongin’s appearance.

“I don’t want to die,” Jongin croaked.

“I promise I won’t kill you. Will that suffice?” the mermaid said, batting its pretty eyes. Jongin didn’t answer, couldn’t think with the mermaid staring at him. “Sing for me,  _please_ ,” the mermaid insisted gently.

 _“My heart is pierced by Cupid_ …” it sang breathily, waiting for Jongin to continue. He was too far away from the lads to call for help, and he felt too helpless beneath the mermaid’s gaze to do anything else other than stare at it openly. Jongin still couldn’t believe that he was staring at a mermaid and conversing with it like he would with any other human being.

“ _I disdain all—glittering gold_ ,” Jongin hesitated through the lyrics, crawling towards the mermaid for a closer look.

If it wanted him dead, he’d be at the bottom of the sea right now, wouldn’t he? The creature made no move to back away or come closer, merely waited for him at the end of the pier to continue singing.

“ _There is nothing can console me_ ,” he sang slowly, approaching the creature. Jongin could see its features clearly now, its plump lower lip and glimmering eyes. It was breathtakingly beautiful now that he was only an inch away from it. Where was the cruelty Baekhyun had told him about? He realized the mermaid’s face had no scales and seemed to glow with innocent happiness and contentment as he leaned towards the mermaid, reaching a hand to touch it.

“ _But my jolly sailor bold_ ,” the creature finished for him, lifting its face upwards to kiss Jongin’s cheek. Its surprisingly warm lips brushed Jongin’s skin briefly as Jongin managed to trail a hand over its arm. It was smooth, slimy even, like the scales of a fish. His gaze moved downwards, catching a glimpse of glimmering scales beneath the water.

“I’d like to hear more,” it whispered in Jongin’s ear.

“I—”

“Jongin!” He jerked out of his dreamy state at the call of his name, barely registering the sound of splashing water as the warm lips at his ear slipped away. Jongin looked over his shoulder to see Junmyeon waving at him, and shifted his gaze towards the edge of the pier in front of him again.

The mermaid had disappeared, without so much as a trace.

Jongin clambered to his feet, blinking rapidly. What the hell was he doing? His mind was a blank, in shock and in amazement that a mermaid had just brushed its lips across his cheek without trying to bite his head off. “What…?” he looked down at his trembling hands, a sheen of damp across the tips of his left hand’s fingers. It was proof that he did touch the creature’s arm but…  _How am I alive?_

“Jongin! What are you doing over there, you daft fool?” Baekhyun yelled from the shore. Jongin glanced at the water one more time. The mermaid and its scales were nowhere to be seen. He started to walk slowly towards the lads where they were standing, waiting for him.

Jongin tried to breathe slowly, his head starting to spin as he jogged towards his friends. “Did you all see the—the um—I saw a—” he stammered, pointing at the pier frantically.

“See what? The moon?” Sehun asked.

“No, not the moon, but—when you called me, there was a mermaid—”

Chanyeol held out a hand towards Jongin, laughing in disbelief. “Whoa there, mate, what did you just say?”

“A mermaid! I’m telling you, I saw one at the pier—” Jongin insisted, but Baekhyun cut in calmly. “A mermaid, Jongin? Really?”

“Yes! I-I sang a little bit, and it came up to me and I touched its arm—”

“Jongin, are you allergic to crab?” Jongdae asked. He had never felt this frustrated and wronged. “I’m not allergic to bloody crabs, I’m telling you I SAW A MERMAID!” Jongin shouted. Everyone looked at each other.

He sighed, putting his hands to his temples. Jongin knew what he was saying sounded ludicrous but it was the ludicrous truth, why couldn’t they believe it? This wasn’t the sort of thing he’d make up. “You have to believe me when I say I saw a mermaid, alright? I even—I  _touched_  it with my very hands and,” he stopped, turning away from his friends.

No one said anything for a few moments. Jongin looked at his hands again. The tips of his fingers were still damp from where he had touched the creature, and its kiss still lingered on Jongin’s cheek. It couldn’t be a dream, surely?

“Look, Jongin, it’s late and—Well, perhaps we can talk about this in the morning?” Junmyeon said from behind him. Someone stepped forward to touch Jongin’s arm. “We’re not dismissing what you saw, Jongin, but maybe give it some time?” Baekhyun said pleadingly. He turned around to face them again, already sensing their apprehension. “Why won’t you lot believe me? You were the ones telling me not to take the legends lightly,” Jongin said miserably.

“But they’re just that, Jongin.  _Legends_ ,” Sehun said hollowly. Jongin ran a shaky hand through his hair, sighing loudly.

“I think I’ll go to sleep now. Maybe  _all of you_  should give the truth some time,” he said, knowing full well that he sounded off his head, but decided not to care. He knew what he saw, and he knew what he had touched.

-

“Jongin? Jongin, are you awake?” Sehun whispered. Jongin ignored him, rolling his eyes. Sehun tutted at Jongin annoyingly. “I can tell when you’re rolling your eyes, Jongin. I’ve known you far too long to—”

“Stop. If this is about what I said, give it up. Obviously, you people don’t believe me—”

“You people? That’s a tad bit racist against your own race,” Sehun remarked. Jongin turned around, slapping some sand towards Sehun’s direction to shut him up. He sputtered, blocking the attack with an arm, but a few grains were already stuck on his eyelashes.

“I call this attempted mutiny, y’know,” Sehun complained loudly. Jongin shushed him. He didn’t want the others to wake up. Honestly, all he wanted was to try and sleep, and here Sehun was, trying to bring up the mermaid issue when all he wanted to do for now was put it out of his mind.

“It isn’t mutiny, Sehun. You’re not the captain of a ship,” Jongin muttered, turning away from him. Sehun made a weird, whiny noise in his throat. “I’m blind, Jongin, Blinded, thanks to your vicious sand attack.”

“Shut up or go away and disturb someone else’s well deserved sleep.”

Sehun was silent for a while, maybe picking out the grains of sand in his eyes. “I cannot believe you saw a mermaid,” he suddenly said, when Jongin thought he wasn’t going to say anything else. He groaned, turning over to glare at Sehun. “Then why are you talking to me about this?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because…” Sehun said eloquently, shaking the sand out of his hair all over Jongin. He spat and sputtered as some sand poured over his face. “Because I think you’re telling the truth.”

Jongin had to slap his own face multiple times to get the sand off before he looked at Sehun suspiciously. “You’re lying.” Sehun shrugged, sitting cross legged in the sand.

“Or  _you_  might be lying about the mermaid, in which case you’re doing very well. But I’m not lying, Jongin. I want to hear what you saw.”

“You said they were just legends,” Jongin whined. Sehun shrugged again. “I said what I had to so that no one would realize I believed you.” Jongin squinted at him.

“And believing me is such a crime?”

“You do know how crazy you looked?” Jongin rolled his eyes. Sehun laughed at his reaction but patted his arm to appease him. “It’s alright, Jongin, just—just tell me what you saw. I promise I won’t say anything until you’re done.”

Jongin hesitated, wondering if Sehun was just doing this out of pity. It was hard for him to believe that Sehun did believe him; why would he, when no one else would? “You can’t tell anyone about this,” Jongin said warningly. Sehun nodded pleasantly.

“I won’t. Get on with your story.”

“Well… I was at the pier,” Jongin cleared his throat, pillowing his head on one arm. Sehun hummed appreciatively.

“And I was um, singing. To myself.”

“Go on.”

“I was singing that song… ‘My Jolly Sailor Bold’. The lighthouse was ablazing over my head, and I was just looking out at sea for a while, when it came up t’wards me.”

“Was it… beautiful? Aesthetically pleasing to the eyes?” Sehun asked.

Jongin paused. The creature was more than beautiful. It had taken his breath away, almost literally, and left him shaking but… Well, not exactly craving for more, but it did make him curious.

“It was, yes. I think beautiful might be an understatement,” Jongin said honestly. Whether or not Sehun believed that, Jongin honestly didn’t care. The mermaid might’ve been a dream, but it still had the most beautiful face he’d ever seen on anyone (or anything).

“Hmm. And what happened?” Sehun said, puckering his lips like a duck.

Jongin went on, “It um, it asked me to sing. Some more. I told the mermaid that I wasn’t going to sing for it.”

“Ah. Isn’t that a bit rude?”

“You said you wouldn’t say anything,” Jongin complained. Sehun snorted. “All right, just go on.”

“So. The mermaid was insulted, I think, by my less-than-gentle treatment. But you can’t really blame me, I thought I was going to die.”

“Sort of rude,” Sehun murmured without opening his mouth. Jongin ignored him entirely. “Finally, I did sing for it, just a little bit. And well, I was—drawn to it, close enough that it erm…” Sehun was curious when Jongin hesitated to continue. “Did it do something to you?”

“Not something terrible, if that’s what you’re assuming,” Jongin said hurriedly. “It was um—Oh, I’ll be out with it. It kissed me,” Jongin said quickly, blushing at the memory.

Sehun gasped so loudly, Jongin thought all the wind around them was sucked into his mouth. “Jongin, you’re not lying about this, surely? Y-you kissed a mermaid?”

“Not on the lips,” Jongin added. Sehun deflated at once in disappointment. “Oh. I was about to try and drown you,” Sehun said, looking at the sea wistfully. Jongin tutted at him. “Look, let’s not think about what the mermaid did, alright, but what it meant.”

“What d’you mean ‘what did it mean’? The mermaid gave yer a kiss but obviously it didn’t like you enough to grant you an escape from death by drowning, so it kissed you—somewhere else instead.”

Jongin sat up, feeling far too awake for his taste all of a sudden.

“I don’t mean the obvious, I—I suppose perhaps the creature didn’t find me appetizing enough or whatever but,” he took a deep breath, “why didn’t it eat me, Sehun? Or at least, try to take a bite?”

“Are you sure? Maybe you mistook it for a kiss whereas it wanted to eat your ear,” Sehun said. Jongin was shaking his head before he was even done talking. “No, no, it definitely did not attempt to eat my face out, alright? It gave me the most chilling kiss I’ve ever received in my life and said in my ear, ‘I’d like to hear more.’”

“Chilling? I thought you said she was beautiful,” Sehun looked at him in surprise. Jongin was about to reply, when he stopped. “She?”

“Yeah, ain’t it a she?” Sehun said. Jongin shook his head slowly, thinking about it properly. “No, it wasn’t a she exactly, Sehun, it was… I don’t know, genderless? It was beautiful, but it didn’t have a— well, a bosom,” Jongin said, feeling embarrassed. Sehun lifted an eyebrow at him. “It didn’t have breasts? So it’s a male then.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Sehun, I’m just telling you what I saw,” Jongin said defiantly. Sehun laughed. “Oh, so Kim Jongin, next head of the Kim family does not have a very high reckoning for bosoms after all, eh? Well, I must say, I never expected this from ya,” Sehun said, clapping a hand over Jongin’s shoulder.

“No, it’s not like that, it’s just—Look, Baekhyun said that you see whatever you want to see when you look at the mermaid, right? I’m telling you, I didn’t see a bosom but the creature was still the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. Alright?”

“S’alright, mate, you see what you want to see,” Sehun chuckled. Jongin grinded his teeth in frustration.

“That’s not what this is about, Sehun, what I’m saying is that if, let’s say, this mermaid had the face of—of Kris, our good friend in Collinsport, mm? I wouldn’t be interested in him. Or any other fit looking lad around for that matter. It had no bosom, right, but it didn’t even matter.”

Sehun looked thoughtful. He tapped his chin and rubbed it too, like he was trying to fiddle with a nonexistent beard. “You know what?” he said.

“What?”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“Oh, finally you get it,” Jongin said, exasperated. He flopped over again, lying down on his arm. “Yes, I do get it, Jongin, I really do. You’re interested in a mermaid.”

Jongin’s eyes widened at him. “You don’t get it at all!” Jongin said in a high pitched voice. Sehun placed a placating hand over his shoulder, nodding like everything in the universe was in place and all was clear now.

“You are interested in the mermaid, like it or not, Jongin. Why else would you get so worked up about it? You fancy it, and maybe it fancies you back too, that’s why it didn’t eat you. Ah, it’s all so clear now, Jongin. So very clear,” Sehun said, like he’d just achieved world peace.

“Can we get back to the part where we wonder why it didn’t choose to eat me or drown me when it had every chance to do so?” Jongin snapped.

“Oh yes. ‘Cause the mermaid fancies you. End of discussion. Now that I know this isn’t some mad delusion of yours, I think I want to meet this mermaid. Shall we say, tomorrow night by the pier?” Sehun said, snapping his fingers and lying down beside Jongin. Jongin looked at him in disbelief.

“You know, this isn’t like meeting my future fiancé or something. This is a  _mermaid_ ,” he said slowly, as if he was talking to a child, “a mermaid who I may or may not meet tomorrow.”

Sehun snorted at him. “Just do what you did tomorrow night. Sing, and I’ll stand by the trees, hidden but with a great view, so that I won’t fall in love with your pretty lil’ mermaid. How’s that sound?” He lifted both of his eyebrows playfully at Jongin, jerking his head towards the water.

Jongin thought it sounded like a terrible plan, but he couldn’t talk Sehun out of it now that he was determined to see a mermaid. Besides, he couldn’t deny the surge of hope and expectancy at the thought of seeing… it again.

*

The next day, Jongin woke up expecting to see a ship by the pier so that he didn’t have to go through with Sehun’s terrible plan, but fate had other plans for him. Instead, the sun shone merrily in the sky while they made a smoke signal with a larger fire than the one they had last night, just in case a ship might pass them by during the day. Jongin seriously doubted they’d be saved within the week, much less today.

It was hard work to find dry wood, considering that they were by the sea and most of the branches were either damp or not the right kind of wood to make a fire. Nevertheless, it was a grateful distraction for Jongin; he didn’t want to think too much about the mermaid from the night before and he didn’t think he wanted to look closely as to why the mermaid let him live when it could’ve just drowned Jongin and maybe have him for supper a few days later.

All throughout morning and afternoon, they worked without saying much until Junmyeon called them for a break and said he’d found a few wild potato plants while looking for wood. Since their smaller fire was still warm with embers glowing bright orange, they found a dried out piece of bark and arranged around fourteen small potatoes on the bark over the fire, sitting together under the shadow of trees to wait for the potatoes to cook.

“The sun’s too hot,” Baekhyun miserably, using a large leaf to protect his skin from getting sunburned.

Jongin, Sehun and Junmyeon were visibly three tones tanner than usual already since they were working under the sun whereas the other three of their company were sheltered by the trees, and Jongin knew it wouldn’t be too long before his skin turned an angry red and started burning. Someone had to rescue them soon; they couldn’t stay forever. The water in barrels at the lighthouse certainly wouldn’t last them for more than a few months.

“Is there any salve we could use here? Anything at all?” Sehun moaned, holding out his two arms to observe the difference in tones between his arms and the fairer skin at his wrist. “I’m like a monkey now,” Sehun bemoaned to himself, rubbing his skin as if it could reverse the effects of being under the sun for too long. 

Jongin drank some water from his oilskin, staring at the sea blankly. He wondered if mermaids had some sort of protection against the sunrays… Then again, they weren’t out during the day for very often.

Sehun caught Jongin’s vacant stare and chuckled. He nudged Chanyeol in the ribs, gesturing at Jongin, who was too distracted to notice his friends were sniggering at his empty expression.

Chanyeol cleared his throat, leaning over Sehun to tap Jongin on the shoulder. “Jongin? Can I ask you something?” he whispered. Jongdae and Baekhyun were a little ways from them while Junmyeon was too busy checking on the potatoes to notice.

Jongin blinked and looked at Chanyeol questioningly. “Yes?” he said distractedly. Chanyeol mouthed wow at Sehun.

“Can we talk? Alone? I mean, with Sehun, of course,” Chanyeol said. Jongin glanced at Sehun looking smug and sly. Jongin squinted at him. “ _Sehun_.” He blinked artlessly, cocking his head to one side in mock innocence.

“Yes, Jongin?”

“Did you say something to Chanyeol?” Jongin asked. Chanyeol stifled a laugh at Jongin’s fierce expression. “So it  _is_  true then. Tell me about the mermaid, Jongin, what colour was its tail?” Chanyeol asked excitedly.

Jongin groaned aloud, covering his face with both hands. “I told you not to tell anyone, Sehun!”

Chanyeol and Sehun were snorting all over themselves while trying not to draw attention. “He’s smitten, I tell you,” Sehun sneered to Chanyeol. Jongin whipped a handful of sand towards them, getting up to take a walk because if he heard one more joke about the mermaid, he was going to explode from frustration.

“Ay, Jongin, let’s not be shy about the creature—” Chanyeol said loudly. Jongin turned around and quickly smacked a hand over Chanyeol’s mouth, glancing around fearfully to see if anyone else had heard what Chanyeol said.

Jongdae looked over at them. “What kind of game are you lot playing?” he called.

“Nothing! I saw a er—a fire ant on Chanyeol!” Jongin called loudly, hoping Sehun would take the hint to shut up. He shot Sehun a look that said if he tried to say anything else to anyone, there’d be only five people to rescue at the end of the day.

Chanyeol snatched Jongin’s hand off his mouth. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Jongin, really—”

“Oh? Then why didn’t any of you stand up for me last night?” Jongin asked, stepping away from Chanyeol. “We wanted to make sure it wasn’t some sort of dream you might’ve had by the pier. Sehun said you sounded too sure about it all to be a lie, and I know you would never have that sort of creativity to make it all up…”

Jongin wanted to slap and hug Chanyeol at the same time. He sighed, a weight on his chest that he didn’t know was there lifting just a little bit. At least he wasn’t carrying this burden alone now.

“Look, I—I don’t know what Sehun told you, but I’m not promising you both that the mermaid will be there—”

“Don’t bother apologizing if it doesn’t come around, Jongin. If what you say is true, then we’ll have to do and talk about while waiting to be rescued!” Chanyeol said, spreading his arms wide open and falling over onto the sand. He sighed happily. “I’m so envious, Jongin, I’ve always secretly wanted to see a mermaid.”

Jongin scowled at the both of them. “Well, don’t get your hopes too high up. The mermaid might not even appear ever again.”

“You’re just saying that. If I was the mermaid and I liked your voice, I would definitely swim to the surface if you started to sing again,” Chanyeol said. Sehun gave Jongin a silent thumbs up. “Now, to think about who to sacrifice if she wants to eat one of us. Shall we sacrifice Junmyeon?” Chanyeol mused.

“We might need him though,” Sehun replied. “I don’t know if it’s a she, Chanyeol, and it might not even want to eat us.”

“I think  _she_  is playing with her food. In particular,  _you_. Why else would the mermaid give you a little kiss? I don’t think mermaids do that very often. Do they, Sehun?” Chanyeol turned to look at Sehun. He shook his head solemnly.

Chanyeol nodded to himself. “I thought so.”

Jongin rolled his eyes, sitting back down in the sand again. “It just happened, alright? And both of you have to keep this between us now. I don’t want the other lads thinking I’m in love with a mermaid—”

“You’re in love with a mermaid?” Baekhyun’s voice suddenly said from behind them. All three of them froze. Something thudded to the ground behind Jongin.

Sehun turned his head slightly to see what Baekhyun’s reaction was; he had slumped to the ground onto his knees, eyes wide in shock. Sehun scrambled over to see if Baekhyun was okay, shaking him violently.

“Oi, are you alright?” Sehun asked. Jongin and Chanyeol turned around to see Sehun dragging him out of the trees and dumping him on the sand between Jongin and Chanyeol. “Mermaid,” Baekhyun croaked.

“You haven’t even seen one yet, and you’re already feeling faint?” Jongin frowned, slapping Baekhyun’s cheek lightly.

“I was listening to the three of you in the trees, and I thought it was all a joke until… Jesus, I’ve heard of men falling in love with mermaids but…  _Jongin_. I didn’t think it’d happen to  _you_.”

Jongin lifted an eyebrow. “You mean it happens very often?” he asked.

“Yeah. A little after falling in love, the human dies,” Baekhyun said flatly. Jongin exhaled through his mouth. “Well, I’m still here now, aren’t I?” Jongin said. Baekhyun grabbed Jongin’s hand, pretending to tremble like a leaf. “For how long?” he asked hollowly. Jongin pushed his face away in disgust.

Baekhyun sat up expectantly. “But how did you fall in love with one anyway? Was the nonsense you were spouting last night actually real?”

“Yes,” Sehun and Chanyeol chorused while Jongin said an outright no. Baekhyun smiled wickedly at him. “Well, well, Jongin. Was the sea creature beautiful?” Jongin shrugged nonchalantly. “I suppose.”

“’Course it is,” Baekhyun laughed to himself, slapping a hand to his forehead. “Why else would Jongin be in love with it?”

“I’m not in love with it,” Jongin denied vehemently. “I’m just—extremely curious because it could’ve killed me, but it didn’t.” Baekhyun looked like he didn’t believe what Jongin was saying, but let it go anyway.

“Alright, if that’s what you say,” he acceded, “but could you please somehow ask the mermaid to help us get off this island? I have this strange rash on my ribs, I think it’s because of the fish we had last night…” Baekhyun pulled up his shirt to show it to Jongin, but it wasn’t necessary.

“I could ask  _if_  it chooses to pay me a visit tonight but... How would it help anyway? It is only one measly creature against all of six of us.”

“Oh, so you’re going to see it tonight? Again?” Baekhyun asked. Jongin shrugged his shoulders. “Even if I didn’t want to, will all of you ever stop asking me about it?” Jongin said, holding his hands out. Baekhyun paused.

“True, I would not rest till I laid eyes on the creature itself. But seriously, Jongin, try to see if it can help us. I’ve heard the benevolent ones can grant wishes and those sort of things.”

Jongin pursed his lips. “I’ll see what I can do.”

*

The moon hung in a white half circle above the sea, casting a silvery light on every surface, including the sea itself. The air was briny, and all was silent.

Jongin walked awkwardly on the pier alone, feeling goosebumps prickling all over his arms and the back of his neck. He approached the end of the pier fairly quickly, bending down to sit clumsily. Jongin couldn’t hide the fact that he was shaking in fear and anticipation as his trembling toes touched the surface of the water, sending shaky ripples through the water.

When the sun was still out, Chanyeol and Baekhyun had somehow managed to convince Jongdae and Junmyeon to listen to Jongin’s story. They were displeased and looked like they didn’t quite accept Jongin’s recollection of last night’s events as something that really happened, but they were content to wait in the trees, hidden in the dark shadows while Jongin tried to call the mermaid out.

“Ten coins that the mermaid doesn’t appear,” Jongdae had bargained with Baekhyun. They shook on it; “You got it, friend. Say goodbye to your money.” It did not soothe Jongin’s frazzled nerves now.

 _You survived last night, you can do it again tonight,_  Jongin thought. He had to get a hold of himself; if the mermaid suspected him of trying to cheat it or anything like that, he might have to pay the ultimate price.

Jongin cleared his throat, trying to decide which song he should sing. The song he sang last night worked well enough, but would it work again tonight? Worth trying, Jongin thought. If the mermaid didn’t show, he could try something else.   

He sang the first verse as loudly as he could, voice cracking multiple times over the words. Jongin wasn’t the best singer around, but throw in anxiety into the mix, his singing was a terrible mess; he didn’t know what the mermaid liked about his voice. When he finished, there was no sign of bubbles or ripples in the middle of the sea. In fact, there was no movement at all from the sea, not even a wandering fish.

 _Did it work?_ He thought, puzzled.  _Or do I have to sing a bit more?_

Jongin cleared his throat and sang the second verse, looking over his shoulder to see if his friends could be seen from this distance.  _“Come all ye pretty maids, whoever you may be…”_

Not so much as their faces could be seen; they certainly hid very well. He turned back to the sea again.

“ _Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea. My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold—”_

Water splashed up a few feet away from Jongin, a large tail appearing above the surface before it disappeared into the water. The creature was here.

“ _There is nothing can console me_ ,” Jongin murmured, watching the dark waters below him carefully. He could see the pale, scared expression on his face in the water.

Bubbles broke his reflection, and he sang the last line: “ _…but my jolly sailor bold_.”

For a split second, nothing happened. The bubbles popped and disappeared, while the wind blew and made him shiver. Jongin waited and waited, wondering if he should bring his legs up to the surface for safety.

Then a pair of pretty eyes focused in the water, below his reflection. Dark hair floated to the surface like seaweed, surrounding the pair of eyes. Jongin tasted bile in the back of his mouth as the mermaid’s features slowly materialized through the dark waters and it sprang up into the cold wind, its hands reaching to grip Jongin’s thighs to keep it afloat. He noticed its fingers were webbed like a duck, translucent and shimmery against his dark pants.

Jongin looked up at its beautiful face, a trace of a smile playing on its lips. “So you sang a bit more for me this time, human,” the mermaid said, tail swishing about in the water. Jongin laughed nervously, tracing his fingertips over its cheek.

“I did, yes. And you came,” Jongin said absently. The mermaid tilted its head slightly. “I came,” it whispered. “I came when my sisters tell me your kind have done nothing to be kind to us.”

“May I know your name?” Jongin asked, placing his hand on its neck to feel its soft and wet skin. He had never felt anything so soft to the touch in his life. Were his friends watching? Jongin didn’t know.

The mermaid looked at him in confusion. “My name? I cannot give it away to a human. To tell you my name is to let you have power over me,” it replied him. Jongin decided not to push it; maybe mermaids have different ethics from humans.

“Well, I’ll tell you mine just to show that I trust you. My name is Jongin, fair creature,” he said softly, blushing when the creature met his gaze steadily.

“Jongin,” it repeated slowly, testing the words. Jongin had never felt so alive at the sound of his name.

“Yes, that’s right. Would you like to erm, come up?” Jongin asked, patting the wood beside him. The mermaid considered his question slowly. “No, Jongin… I’d prefer not to. I’ve never been out of the water, you see.”

“Ah.” Jongin couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice. “Well then. I apologize if that question was offensive.” The mermaid shook its head, placing its head on Jongin’s knee. “It was not. And if I may, Jongin, I’d like to ask you a question.”

Jongin lifted an eyebrow. “Hmm?”

The mermaid reached up a hand to trail a finger over Jongin’s chin. “Why are you still here on this island? Are you… waiting for me to shed a tear to use at the Fountain of Youth?”

Jongin was bewildered at its question. “Good Lord, no. Is the Fountain of Youth real anyway?” The mermaid nodded. “I thought that was the reason why you sang. If you are not here to set off to the Fountain of Youth then are you shipwrecked upon this island?”

Jongin answered yes. “My ship sailed into a storm and Providence was destroyed. My crew and I managed to salvage a longboat, and that is how we chanced upon this island.” The mermaid looked at him warily, shoulders stiffening.

“You and… others?”

 _Bugger_ , Jongin thought. Just when everything was going so well.  _And we’ve exchanged more words this time,_  Jongin thought, feeling slightly disappointed. He opted for being honest; his friends couldn’t hide in the bushes forever. “Well, yes. Did you think I sailed here all on my lonesome?” he asked.

The mermaid looked away from him, water rippling as it moved its tail back and forth, making a watery, pleasant noise.

“Are your friends kind like you are?” the mermaid asked. Jongin chuckled, placing his hand slowly over the mermaid’s. It looked up at him with wide eyes. “They are curious to see you, but I promise they will do you no harm.”

“Where are they?” the mermaid asked, looking over his shoulder curiously. “I won’t call them out if you feel uncomfortable,” Jongin said reassuringly.

The mermaid shook its head. “I don’t mind but— It’s just…” the mermaid trailed off. “You’ve never more than one human at one time?” Jongin guessed.

“Well, no. A ship stops here every fortnight, and I have seen the crew but,” it shook its head, “they are very crass and rude. As a result, I don’t come up above the surface very often but… You are a wonderful exception, dear Jongin. I wish all men were like you,” the mermaid smiled, placing its head over Jongin’s knees again.

“I am flattered to be your one exception but… Every fortnight, you say?” Jongin repeated. The mermaid nodded its head.

“Do you know what sort of people steer the ship?” he asked, running a hand through its wet hair. He knew girls on land liked it when he did that, females living underwater couldn’t be too different. At least, he assumed this mermaid was female. Certainly acted like one, that was for sure.

“Mm… Their ship has red sails, but no name across the back of the ship. Does that help?” the mermaid purred, leaning into Jongin’s touch as he rubbed his fingers over its scalp.

 It certainly did. Red sails meant this island belonged to the Great Eastern Land. But the people from that country never usually sailed towards the west…  _We must be up north then_ , Jongin thought. The good news was that Collinsport had good relations with the Great Eastern Land.

“They last made port here six days ago,” the mermaid added helpfully. “Ah. Thank you for that, um… yes. I’m sorry if this is rude but… do I refer to you in a female context, fair creature?”

The creature lifted an amused eyebrow. “Does it matter? My people have no real gender differentiation, Jongin.”

And it  _didn’t_  matter to Jongin, strangely enough. He liked this creature for who it was, vicious nature or not. It was gentle and delightful, not at all like what he had heard about mermaids from Baekhyun. He supposed this creature’s ancestors had always been blessed with beauty.

“Is this your true form, love? Or is it an illusion?” he asked, lowering his voice. The mermaid sent him a sultry smile. “That depends. What  _do_  you see?”

Well, he saw a beautiful face, of course, with the most fascinatingly soft skin and pretty lips shaped like a heart. He ran a finger on the mermaid’s bottom lip gently, unable to resist smiling as well.

“I see a beautiful creature before me. A creature worthy of an equally beautiful name,” he said honestly.

“You disarm me, Jongin, with your kind words,” the mermaid purred. “I cannot disclose to you my real name, dear Jongin, but perhaps I will divulge my name in your language.”

“That is more than enough for me,” Jongin said breathlessly, cupping the mermaid’s cheek in his hand. Its cheek fitted perfectly to Jongin’s curved hand, glowing a charming pink as the mermaid stared into Jongin’s eyes.

The mermaid paused for a moment, perhaps hesitating. Jongin didn’t blame it for having second thoughts; its name  _was_  personal information after all. He waited patiently until it spoke softly: “I don’t know if I am accurate enough but I believe in your language, you would call me Kyungsoo. That is the short version anyway. In my people’s tongue, I have a rather elaborate family name.”

Jongin was mildly surprised, but also sort of felt like he should’ve known the mermaid would have a name usually reserved for males. It was not a common name, but Jongin had come across this name a few times, normally belonging to boys or men in his books. Maybe mermaids had no real gender differentiation, but to Jongin’s eyes and ears, this mermaid was more male than female.

“I don’t know how you might feel about this… Kyungsoo,” he said uncertainly. Kyungsoo nodded, pleased that Jongin used its—his name. “But your name usually belongs to men. I have no qualms about it, of course, but I thought you should know.”

Kyungsoo smiled at him, a rather shy smile that Jongin fell for right away. “You are quite a remarkable man, Jongin. I’d like to leave you a small token tomorrow night.”

“Surely that is entirely unnecessary?” Jongin asked incredulously. Kyungsoo shook his head. “Your kind words deserve a reward. I must go now, dear Jongin, and I shall look forward to meeting you again.”

Jongin felt reluctant to see Kyungsoo go, but he didn’t want Kyungsoo to dry out or whatever. They had been talking long enough, and Jongin held himself back as Kyungsoo sank back into the water after kissing Jongin on the cheek one more time, waving him goodbye.

He stood up, standing by the end of the pier to see Kyungsoo off. Jongin whistled to signal to his friends that it was safe to come out and Jongdae tumbled out of the trees at once, yelling and shouting incoherently. Junmyeon and Baekhyun came out next, dirt streaked all over their skin. Jongin chuckled, twisting on his ankle to head back to the beach.

“Jongin,” Kyungsoo suddenly called, reappearing by the pier once more. He blinked at Kyungsoo. “I thought you had to leave?” he asked, bending down to bring himself to the same level.

Kyungsoo giggled shyly, lifting something long and thin in his hands. “Your rod, Jongin. I thought you might need it if you’re going to be here for another week or so.” Jongin’s mouth dropped open in surprise, picking the rod up. The hook on the reel was still curved and sharp; Kyungsoo must’ve fixed it or taken the hook out gently.  

“Thank you, Kyungsoo. We shall meet again?” Jongin said. Kyungsoo nodded, lips curling into a smile. “I look forward to it, dear Jongin. Goodbye,” Kyungsoo said, turning to head out towards the open sea.

Jongin looked over his shoulder to see if his friends had seen what happened. Chanyeol was the only one paying attention while the others were running towards the shore, all of them covered in dirt.

He looked down at his rod once again, smiling to himself.  _Kyungsoo_ , he thought.  _Beautiful, beautiful Kyungsoo._

 

 


	3. Atlantis

In the morning, Jongin and his friends woke up with the sunrise at Junmyeon’s cheerful command to ‘get up and enjoy the morning air’.

 

Apparently, now that they knew that they’d be saved within a few days, they had to concentrate on surviving till the ship from the Great Eastern Land came, and so Junmyeon wanted half of them to stay by the beach to look for shellfish while the rest headed out to sea and begin fishing until the afternoon sun came up. He was obviously allergic to being unproductive.

 

Jongin was still sleepy while Junmyeon was all chipper and energetic, gathering all of them sit around the dying embers of the fire and discuss quickly who should be assigned to which duty. However, Jongin was not sleepy enough to not hear Junmyeon say,” So who would like to go fishing?”

 

“Not me,” he answered at once. Sehun was sprawled on the sand, spread eagle, but he mustered enough energy to say loudly, “Not me either.” Junmyeon’s eyes were filled with disappointment at them.

 

“Why don’t you want to fish?” he asked sulkily. Sehun muttered something about catching a crab instead of a fish, while Jongin pointed at the rods beside Junmyeon and said, “The last time I went fishing, I lost the rod.”

 

“I can’t fish!” Baekhyun quickly put his hand up, eyes still half closed.

 

“Alright then, you three are assigned to stay by the beach while Jongdae and Chanyeol come with me to fish,” Junmyeon said hurriedly before Chanyeol could even think about backing out from fishing duty.

 

Jongdae shrugged in reply, since he had no aversion to fishing. Chanyeol had never fished before, so he didn’t quite catch on the reason why the three of them did not want to fish.

 

“I’ll throw some potatoes onto the fire so we can get started with our work once we’ve had some food,” Junmyeon said. Jongin nodded and flopped back onto the sand, choosing to skip breakfast and slept beside Sehun.

 

When it was time to wake up again and work, Jongin felt much more refreshed and thought he would have some time to think about Kyungsoo and the way he was starting to feel about him while he and Baekhyun worked. They chose to dig at the left side of the island and work their way towards the middle.

 

He told himself over and over again as he dug a hole with his sands into the wet sand close to the sea that he was not in love with Kyungsoo. He was just… fascinated, as anyone would be if they came across a mermaid.

 

This is just a fleeting fancy, nothing more, he thought to himself, picking up a small clam from his little hole and tossing it to Sehun, who said ‘someone has to watch over the clams and make sure they’re not trying to run away’.

 

“Jongin,” Baekhyun sing-songed beside him. He blinked up at him, lifting his eyebrows questioningly.

 

“You’ve been quiet.”

 

“Am I?” Jongin replied evasively. He thought he’d said enough last night; Jongin had told them the important bits of the conversation he and Kyungsoo had last night, about the ship coming to the island in about a week, Kyungsoo’s name… The rest seemed too trivial for him to repeat to his friends, especially since they were all in a kerfuffle because they had been in the bushes too long (they came out looking filthy and smelling strange).

 

“I’d say the mermaid’s caught your fancy, Jongin,” Baekhyun said. Sehun hummed in agreement behind them.

 

“Hardly,” Jongin scoffed.

 

“Then why were you touching each other last night?”

 

Jongin blushed. “I—Well, you know how it is. I was curious, naturally, as any normal human being would be, and I er, touched Kyungsoo just to see if—”

 

“His skin was as soft as it looked? To see if Kyungsoo was as real as you and I on this beach?” Baekhyun said, pretending to sigh dreamily at Jongin.

 

Jongin flung a lump of sand at Baekhyun, refusing to reply him. If he was going to be so damned unreasonable then there was no point being totally honest with him. Baekhyun yelped in surprise, looking down at his now wet and sandy clothes.

 

“I’m going to assume this is an example of tough love, Jongin,” Baekhyun said, getting up and washing off the sand with some sea water. It got the sand off, but now his shirt was half wet.

 

“I don’t think there was any love in that,” Jongin replied.

 

“Perhaps not for me, but maybe for pretty Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun said, noncommittal without looking at Jongin. He swiped aside some sand from his hole a little harder than necessary. Sehun nodded behind Jongin, agreeing with Baekhyun silently.

 

“See, Jongin? Even Sehun agrees with me,” Baekhyun said, holding a hand out in Sehun’s direction.

 

Jongin snorted in response. “I don’t know what you expect me to say, Baekhyun. I can’t be in love with Kyungsoo, he’s a mermaid for goodness’ sake.”

 

Baekhyun gave him a pointed look. “You’re telling me.”

 

“I just think Kyungsoo is quite beautiful, that’s all,” Jongin said defensively. He was fairly sure once they got off this island he’d forget all about him. He was engaged to be married, after all. Jongin couldn’t be in love with someone else if he was going to marry Chanyeol’s sister.

 

I almost forgot I still have a life elsewhere, Jongin thought. He’d only been here for a few days, but it felt like another lifetime already.

 

Baekhyun caught the longing look in Jongin’s eyes and cleared his throat. “So are you coming home with us?” he asked, flinging a clam over his shoulder. Jongin’s hands halted as he frowned at Baekhyun.

 

“O-Of course I’m coming home with you. There’s no doubt about that. What reason would I have to stay?” Jongin replied. Baekhyun and Sehun could both hear the hesitance in Jongin’s voice.

 

“So you’ll tell Kyungsoo soon that you’re going home? Without him?” Baekhyun said. Jongin shrugged, passing a handful of clams to Sehun. “I suppose. Kyungsoo can’t live out of the water, obviously, and I—” Jongin cut himself off. Kyungsoo is the sea, Jongin thought. And I can’t keep him with me.

 

“You’re engaged to be married soon,” Baekhyun finished for Jongin. He nodded stiffly. “Yes, yes I am. It’d be awfully selfish of me to turn my back on Collinsport.”

 

Baekhyun looked to the sea as he spoke, “Y’know, no one knows we’re here. There is most definitely the opportunity to stay with Kyungsoo.” Jongin stared at him. “I can’t. Kyungsoo can’t just keep coming out of the water every night to see me.”

 

Baekhyun turned to him with a playful expression but serious eyes. “If you wanted to be with Kyungsoo, I’m sure there’s a way.”

 

Jongin’s heart fluttered at the thought of being away from the world, living only in the light of Kyungsoo’s eyes. It could only be a mere fantasy, he knew, but it’d be wonderful if life could work out that way. To run away from responsibilities and duties his family thought he should carry out and just live at Nature’s primal mercy…

 

He shook his head, trying to disperse the fantasy out of his mind. It was an impossible dream.

 

“No, there isn’t any other way, Baekhyun. I don’t think I see any way out of my predicament except one, and I can’t change who I am,” Jongin said, trying to make his voice sound steady. Sehun and Baekhyun chose not to acknowledge the wavering note in his voice.

 

“I have to go home,” Jongin said, “it is the right thing to do.”

 

“Sometimes the right thing to do doesn’t necessarily mean happiness, wouldn’t you say so?” Baekhyun asked. Jongin laughed bitterly, looking down into his hole and watching the sea break over the shore and fill the hole up, only to disappear through the wet sand.

 

“Happiness has a steep price. I can’t afford it, even if I save up all my gold coins.”

 

 

 

*

 

The day was rather rewarding, as Jongin found out at dinnertime. Jongin and Baekhyun caught enough clams to last them till morning, a deep trench dug halfway across the left side of the shore as proof of their hard work. Sehun technically did not do anything the entire day except tan himself ten shades darker than his original shade, so he had nothing to claim as his own work. Meanwhile, Junmyeon, Jongdae and Chanyeol four large fish, which was highly suspicious since they barely caught anything before Jongin met Kyungsoo. He wondered if Kyungsoo had anything to do with it.

 

As the day had progressed, Jongin slowly accepted somewhat that although he did feel something for Kyungsoo, he had to face the fact that there was nothing for them if he chose not to return home to Collinsport. He couldn’t stay underwater forever with Kyungsoo even if Kyungsoo decided to kiss him, because he did not have a tail to swim around with.

 

Jongin wouldn’t last very long as a human underwater, and that was the truth of it.

 

Most of the lads probably guessed Jongin’s thoughts from the look on his face and didn’t bother him too much. Lunch was solemn and at dinner, the silence was so oppressing, Jongin could hardly wait till he was done eating to see Kyungsoo again.

 

At least I’ll know what happiness feels like before I return home, Jongin thought. He didn’t know how he was going to marry Chanyeol’s sister like this, with such a heavy feeling over his heart as he thought of never seeing Kyungsoo again.

 

When he sat by the pier and Kyungsoo’s head appeared over the water a few seconds after he started to hum a song to himself, it was all Jongin could do not to jump into the water and beg Kyungsoo to take him away.

 

“Hello,” he said, tight lipped. Jongin attempted a weak smile as Kyungsoo swam up towards him and smiled back, resting his arms over Jongin’s knees.

 

“Hello indeed, Jongin. Did you enjoy your meals?” Kyungsoo asked. Jongin nodded, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. His friends were visibly sitting by the fire, keeping to themselves in case they scared Kyungsoo off.

 

“They caught quite a lot of fish today,” Jongin said, trying to sound bright. Kyungsoo glanced at his friends, smiling in a pleasant manner before shifting his gaze back to Jongin.

 

“I’m sure they did. But I hear the unhappiness in your voice, dear Jongin. Does something trouble you?” Kyungsoo asked, wet shimmery skin gleaming as his shoulders moved. Jongin trailed a hand over Kyungsoo’s skin, his mind unwilling to process how smooth his skin felt on his hand.

 

Kyungsoo placed his hand over Jongin’s hand on his shoulder, looking at him earnestly. “Tell me,” he breathed.

 

Jongin gave in, exhaling through his nose heavily. “Nothing troubles me, Kyungsoo, I just worry about you once I’m gone,” he said, evading the question and hoping Kyungsoo would take the bait. Kyungsoo smiled slyly, splashing his tail particularly hard upwards and made water rain down on Jongin.

 

He smiled reluctantly, blinking as water dotted his hair and face. Kyungsoo giggled, his clear voice tinkling like little bells.

 

“I will be fine without you on this island, Jongin, you don’t have to worry about me. Now, tell me what is it that occupies your mind when I deserve all of your undivided attention,” Kyungsoo said, putting both hands on either side of Jongin’s legs and lifting himself up, dropping into Jongin’s lap.

 

It was the first time Jongin had seen his tail out of the water, and he quickly held Kyungsoo tightly with his arms when he felt his slippery tail threaten to make Kyungsoo and him slide back into the water. He was heavier than expected, but he didn’t mind if it meant being able to see Kyungsoo’s body out of water.

 

Kyungsoo drew his arms around Jongin’s neck, not caring that Jongin was staring at where his upper body ended and his scaly, greenish tail began, the end of his tail still swishing in the water below. “Your tail is… much larger than I thought it’d be,” Jongin said, putting a hand around Kyungsoo’s waist and pulling him closer. He could see thin, almost translucent fins trimming the side of his tail; it looked like the tentacles of a jellyfish.

 

“Is it? I am considered smaller than usual among my sisters, dear Jongin,” Kyungsoo whispered, leaning on his shoulder.

 

“You are still beautiful in my eyes all the same. May I…?” Jongin trailed off, taking away his hand from around Kyungsoo’s waist to hover over Kyungsoo’s tail. Kyungsoo nodded, watching him as he touched Kyungsoo’s surprisingly warm tail. It was slippery as he thought it’d be, like a fish’s body but it was different when it was this large and attached to the rest of Kyungsoo.

 

“You still haven’t said anything about what troubles you, Jongin. Can I help with your worries?” Kyungsoo asked, lifting Jongin’s chin up to meet his gaze.

 

“I have to return home soon, Kyungsoo, yet I do not…” Jongin trailed off, keeping his voice low. It felt like if he spoke too loudly, he’d be voicing his fears to the only person who could truly understand them.

 

“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked, concerned.

 

Jongin sighed. “I—I know it might be too early to say this, but I am very fond of you, Kyungsoo, as I’m sure every man who has seen you is. I find it very difficult to think about leaving this place if it means… Well, not seeing you again.”

 

Kyungsoo’s expression softened as he trailed a hand over Jongin’s face, touching all of his features reverently with his gentle fingertips.

 

“You cannot stay here for me, Jongin. It is not your place,” Kyungsoo said, almost with wistful regret.

 

Jongin bit his lip, nodding. “I know, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to.”

 

Kyungsoo smiled sadly, placing his hand over Jongin’s heart. His nails had a bluish bruise-like tint around the edges, a reminder that Kyungsoo was different from Jongin even if he looked human.

 

“I came to give you a gift, dear Jongin, for you to think of me when I’m gone. But now you speak of your reluctance to leave me, and it makes me sad as well,” Kyungsoo said, looking up at Jongin’s face. “Isn’t there a way for you to make me like you, Kyungsoo? For me to live at sea with you?” Jongin asked.

 

Kyungsoo shook his head. “I don’t live in these waters, Jongin. There is a place, where at sundown one can cross over to another world, parallel to this one. But your kind has no place there, dear Jongin. Only the human souls of those who died at sea can come with me to this world,” Kyungsoo replied him, running a hand through Jongin’s hair.

 

Jongin laughed half heartedly in disbelief. Happiness truly did come at a high price.

 

Then he added, “Surely, a young one like you has a wife or fiancé waiting at home for you, a warm fire prepared and loving arms to welcome you?” Kyungsoo said, a strange tone in his voice.

 

“One like me has fallen in love with the sea, Kyungsoo. Is there no other way? Can you come with me, Kyungsoo, to the east? I could care for you,” Jongin said, trying to be hopeful. Kyungsoo smiled bitterly up at him, already shaking his head again.

 

“The only way to care for me is to kill your kind for my sake, dear Jongin. I wish not to burden you with such a heavy duty.”

 

Jongin was silent, allowing Kyungsoo to lie on his shoulder while he rubbed his hand against Kyungsoo’s ribs distractedly, holding him close.

 

“You said you had a gift for me,” Jongin said after a moment. Kyungsoo hummed in reply, his tail making soft noises in the water.

 

Kyungsoo withdrew his arm from around Jongin’s neck, holding up something glittering in his hand. Jongin squinted at it, holding out a hand for Kyungsoo to place it gently in his fingers. “I found it at the bottom of the seabed a long time ago. I believe it is gold, because it has not corroded after so many years in the water.”

 

Jongin touched the chain, a pendant attached to a flat piece of gold that hung from the chain. He noticed the pendant was actually a large, green scale and it was a gold necklace, its clasp locked.

 

Kyungsoo pointed at the scale and said, “This is from my tail. If you ever get tired of living… place it in the water and wait for me by the sea, dear Jongin, and I will know that you are waiting for me. Be it your home at the east or the distant south, I will find you,” Kyungsoo promised, leaning in close.

 

Jongin clenched his fingers around the chain, drawing Kyungsoo’s body closer. He wanted to kiss Kyungsoo for many reasons, and none of them included the desire to survive drowning at sea. No, there were so many things he wanted to say to Kyungsoo, but not enough time for him to ever voice them all sincerely.

 

He brushed his lips over Kyungsoo’s mouth once, twice and then moved away. Kyungsoo looked up at him questioningly, cocking his head to one side.

 

“I think it better for me not to know my fate, Kyungsoo. Better for me to know not how I shall die, or when I shall die.”

 

Kyungsoo understood then, and smiled, his gaze lingering over Jongin’s lips although he made no move to kiss him any further. “I have many years, dear Jongin. I will wait for you, should you ever meet your fate at sea. Then perhaps, when I ferry you to the other side, we can be together once more.”

 

“Is this goodbye?”

 

“Not forever, dear Jongin. I will see you someday in Atlantis, I’m sure of it,” Kyungsoo replied. Jongin blinked. “Atlantis, you say? The lost city of Atlantis?”

 

Kyungsoo nodded, smiling like he was happy that Jongin understood. “Calypso took Atlantis to the other side because she wanted a city for her souls to be happy. It is there where I live with all my sisters and all manners of sea life.”

 

It sounded interesting, and Jongin pleaded with Kyungsoo to tell him more. They spoke in low murmurs until the moon slowly made its descent into the sea, his friends went to sleep and the fire went out in the wind. Nothing seemed to move but the both of them.

 

Jongin wanted time to stop at that moment, with the calm sea and gentle breeze around them. He felt close to Kyungsoo even though he knew their time was short and it was unwise to allow his feelings for Kyungsoo to deepen.

 

When Kyungsoo finally told Jongin to put him back into the sea water, his skin was peeling in thin dry layers, coming off of him in small bits. Kyungsoo told him that he couldn’t stay out of the water too long because he would dry out. Jongin cursed the heavens silently for making things difficult for the both of them while Kyungsoo dipped into the sea, swimming in a small circle before he faced Jongin once more.

 

“Will I see you again tomorrow night?” Jongin asked, practically begging.

 

“I need to feed myself soon, dear Jongin. I don’t think you’d want to see that,” Kyungsoo smiled, showing him just a little bit of his sharp teeth. Such a beautiful creature, Jongin thought, yet so deadly.

 

“So we will not meet again here on this island?” Jongin asked, his heart sinking. Kyungsoo reached up a hand to pat Jongin’s cheek, shaking his head.

 

“You should return home to your family, Jongin. I can wait for you, my dear love.”

 

Jongin stared at Kyungsoo’s face for the last time, trying to absorb every feature and commit every inch of his beautiful self into memory. “You will always be in my mind, Kyungsoo. Pray, never forget me.”

 

“Never,” Kyungsoo whispered, bringing Jongin’s face close for a kiss on the cheek before he backed away, disappearing slowly into the sea. Jongin bit on his arm to keep himself from crying out loud, hot tears running down his face as the wind picked up and blew against him. It already felt like a dream as he stood up and tried to see if there was any sign of Kyungsoo’s tail swimming away, but the waters were dark and there was not a stray ripple on the surface. He thought he understood what some men said about the sea sometimes; it was unattainable to man and would always remain that way. 

 

The only proof Kyungsoo was ever real laid in his hands, cold and glittering.

 

 

 

The next morning, Jongin woke up with red, swollen eyes and a golden chain hidden under his shirt. His crew knew better than to ask what had happened last night.

 

He had cried, thinking that his friends were all asleep, but all of them heard him. They heard him praying, crying and sobbing softly with a hand over his mouth and then silence towards dawn as he fell asleep for a while.

 

Despite crying all night, he refused to stop working because not working meant being alone with his thoughts. He could hardly bear the heavy burden of having to go back to the life he always knew, let alone think about what could’ve happened if things were a little different.

 

Towards the afternoon, when it was almost time for lunch, Sehun went off to let the clams cook on the fire, and Baekhyun placed a hand over Jongin’s shoulder while he dug at the sand till the skin of his palms felt numb.

 

“I don’t know what happened but I’m sorry, Jongin,” Baekhyun said softly.

 

Jongin shrugged, picking out three clams from the large hole in front of him. “That’s enough digging for today, Jongin, we’re more than halfway around the shore. You can’t expect us to dig through the whale, right?” Baekhyun laughed nervously.

 

He stopped digging, looking at Baekhyun. “I’m digging because I don’t want to think anymore. I don’t want to think about going home, I don’t want to think about staying, I just need to do something until I feel… normal again.”

 

Baekhyun stared at him, dumbfounded, before he threw his arms around Jongin.

 

“I don’t know what happened but I’m sorry, Jongin. Truly,” Baekhyun repeated. Jongin was obviously surprised that that was Baekhyun’s reaction. He reached up a hand to pat Baekhyun’s back, the hug stretching out longer than Jongin would’ve liked.

 

“I think it’s time to let go of me now,” Jongin said, trying to pull away. Thankfully for him, Baekhyun let go of Jongin and placed both hands on his shoulders, giving him a serious look.

 

“Whatever happened, Jongin. I’m your friend and I am here. Do you want to take a rest from digging?”

 

From the scary look in his eyes, Jongin thought it would be better to say yes than to argue and say he was feeling numb enough to do anything except sit around. 

 

“Maybe I’ll have some clams,” Jongin muttered, embarrassed that his emotions were on his sleeve. It’s no use being sad about it anymore, he thought. There wasn’t much he could do to change things, and he was never supposed to fall in love. 

 

 

 

 

 

Six days later

 

The sun was a fiery orange ball sinking behind the ship from the Great Eastern Land, casting it in dark shadows from where Jongin stood.

 

The Eastern ship had arrived on schedule just as Kyungsoo said it would, and it was time for Jongin to leave Isla de Sirena.

 

Junmyeon and Jongdae were trying to communicate with the Eastern captain of the ship, trying to tell him that they were from Collinsport and they’d like to buy their way home, offering the captain a substantial part of Jongin’s money to keep them in the cargo hold or allow them to help his crew with sailing until the ship sailed past Collinsport. Jongin and the rest were supposed to keep quiet while they bargained with the captain, but there was nothing Jongin could’ve said because he didn’t want to leave. 

 

“The captain’s nodding. Do you think we can finally go home?” Baekhyun whispered to Sehun. The captain looked reasonable enough, but it was highly suspicious of six men to be shipwrecked on this island and looked like he was trying to decide if Junmyeon and the others would try to seize his ship. Good relations were good, but tentative all the same.

 

Sehun shrugged at Baekhyun’s question. “He mightn’t. We did use a barrel of their water, but maybe Junmyeon will tell ‘em we’ll pay it right back if he can take us home to Collinsport. If it doesn’t work then we’ll have to wait till God knows when,” Sehun replied.

 

Then the captain shifted his gaze towards the four of them standing together, taking in Jongin’s sullen expression and the eager faces of Baekhyun, Sehun and Chanyeol beside him. He said something to Junmyeon, pointing to Jongin.

 

“Whoa, have you met him before?” Chanyeol said in Jongin’s ear. Jongin shook his head. “I don’t know why he’s pointing at me.  Maybe he doesn’t want to take me on his ship.” His heart lifted unreasonably at the thought of staying just a bit longer on Isla de Sirena. His momentary hopes were dashed however, when Jongdae replied the captain, waving his hand dismissively and laughing nervously.

 

The Eastern captain nodded, the expression on his face darkened by the sun rather thoughtful. He said something again to the both of them, and then waved at one of his men. Junmyeon sighed in relief, obviously thanking the captain profusely while Jongdae bowed politely and headed towards the four of them.

 

Jongin’s heart sank, and he looked away.

 

“He says he’ll takes us. It’ll take another five days to reach Collinsport, but at least we know we’re going home,” Jongdae informed them.

 

“Thank goodness,” Chanyeol said, holding up a fist. “Why did he point at Jongin though?” Sehun asked, looking over Jongdae’s shoulder to see if the captain was still busy talking to Junmyeon. They were probably haggling over price now, from the way the captain was stroking his straggly beard.

 

Jongdae gave Jongin a somewhat pitiful look. “He said that he didn’t mind taking all of six of us, but that he could see Jongin didn’t want to go home. I think he knows about the mermaids here, maybe,” Jongdae said.

 

“We’ve only seen one mermaid though. D’you think his friends come along sometimes as well?” Baekhyun said curiously. Jongin lifted his shoulder and then dropped it weakly. “I’ve only ever seen him.” He fiddled with the scale around his neck, rubbing his finger over the smooth surface. Jongin wanted to drop the necklace in the sea and maybe wait to see if Kyungsoo would really come, but there were too many people around. And he was supposed to be moving on from this fleeting fancy, not sighing heavily when Junmyeon called them over.

 

“Let’s go say hello to the captain,” Jongdae said, motioning for them to follow him. They went up to the captain and shook hands with him, murmuring words of thanks politely. Jongin only managed a weak smile and a perfunctory thank you when he shook hands with the captain. He was eyeing Jongin rather curiously, gaze lingering around his eyes and the necklace around his neck.

 

He said something in Mandarin to Jongin, which he didn’t understand. He nodded dumbly, thinking that maybe he was praising the necklace or something. Junmyeon bit his lip, looking uncomfortable.

 

“Thank you?” Jongin said once more, lilting his sentence into almost a question. The captain smiled warmly at him, patting his hand before allowing his men to guide them up onto the ship. What was that? Jongin lifted his eyebrows at Junmyeon.

 

Junmyeon shook his head imperceptibly, joining all of them.

 

Climbing up onto the ship, Jongin forgot about what the captain said to him, putting it out of his mind as he stood above deck, the ship familiar yet alien all at once. It was very similar to Providence, but the crew manning the ship were gruff and indifferent towards them. Providence always felt like home; this ship felt like anything but.

 

Will anything ever feel the same? Jongin asked himself as he stood looking over the sea. He already felt tired of living, and it had only been six days since he last saw Kyungsoo. If I ever get tired of living… He touched the gold chain around his neck. Kyungsoo did say that he’d come if Jongin ever call for him.

 

“Jongin, we’re going to help the crew load up on their cargo. Are you… coming to help as well?” Jongdae’s voice broke into Jongin’s reverie.

 

He turned, dropping his hand to his side and saw Jongdae looking at him uncertainly. The others were busy with their hands, going around the ship to aid the crew. Jongin cleared his throat and said, “I’ll be there in a moment.”

 

Jongdae looked like he wanted to say something else, but hesitated and kept silent. Jongin sighed wearily and moved away from the side of the ship, tired of the pitiful looks in his friends’ eyes. He felt sorry enough for himself, there was no need for five other people to feel the same for him and remind him of how much it hurt to leave the island.

 

Jongin brushed past Jongdae and began to carry some barrels the crew had left on the main deck down into the cargo hold. They were heavy in his hands, especially when he had to struggle with the bulky barrels down a few steps into the lower deck, but it couldn’t top the heavy feeling in his heart. He missed Kyungsoo and if he stopped working he knew the tears would well over.

 

After about half an hour, the captain lumbered onto the ship and climbed up to the quarter deck, preparing a heading by reading through his maps. Junmyeon called for all of them to get up on the ship and take everything else that was needed on the ship as quickly as possible. Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who were tying knots to keep the shrouds in place, gave Junmyeon the okay sign. The Eastern ship was just about ready to sail.

 

Jongin couldn’t bear to see the island begin to disappear from view as the crew brought up the anchor and quickly went back down into the cargo hold when he felt the ship lurch beneath his feet, slowly pulling out of the shore.

 

The ship dipped slightly as the bottom lost traction from the sand and began to float on the sea; Jongin could hardly breathe as he imagined the island slowly shrinking as the wind caught in the ship’s sails and blew it away, far from Isla de Sirena and the memories it held for Jongin.

 

 How am I supposed to live with the way I’m feeling? Jongin thought, holding back a sob. He placed a hand on a crate for support, legs feeling weak.

 

Jongin bit down on his lower lip, hot tears sliding down his cheeks. He heard the crew from above yelling as they worked together to pull the sails into the correct direction and felt sick to his stomach, shutting his eyes to keep everything out. Sliding down into a spot between the crates, he placed his hands over his head and tried to think about something else.

 

The cargo hold was quite dark, for which Jongin was thankful. If he blocked out the sounds of the crew moving around in the upper deck long enough, he could almost imagine the stars and moon above his head, and the sea spread out like a mat before him.

 

Someone came down into the cargo hold some time later, calling out Jongin’s name. He had been sitting between the crates long enough for his legs to feel numb, but he didn’t care. Jongin wanted to be away from everyone for now. If they were his friends, they’d understand that he was heartbroken and that he couldn’t deal with his feelings because he didn’t know how. I just want everyone to leave me be, Jongin thought, hearing the sound of footsteps approaching him.

 

“Jongin? Jongin, are you here? If you’re not then we might have to inform the captain that we’ve left you behind,” the person called. It sounded like Chanyeol.

 

“I’m here,” Jongin croaked back. It wasn’t loud enough for Chanyeol to grasp what he said but he heard Jongin’s voice and looked around in the dark once more.

 

“Is this about Kyungsoo? I know you’re upset, Jongin, and if you want to talk, we’re all here for you,” Chanyeol said, looking over crates and behind barrels until he finally spotted a pair of feet sticking out among a large pile of crates. Chanyeol wondered how Jongin could breathe for so long down here, the cargo hold was breathlessly filled up to the maximum.

 

“I don’t need to talk, I just want you to leave me alone,” Jongin said, leaning his head back on a crate. His lips were dry and cracked, but he wasn’t thirsty or hungry. All he wanted was to maybe sleep through this and handle everything better when he woke up.

 

Chanyeol’s face appeared before him, and he patted Jongin’s head gently. “Me mum used to do this whenever I was upset,” Chanyeol said.

 

“I’m not upset.”

 

“No, you’re just sad,” Chanyeol replied, folding his legs to sit across Jongin.

 

“I’m not—sad or anything, just. Normal. So you can tell the captain I’m still here on the ship and let me sleep,” Jongin said petulantly. Chanyeol took his hand away, sitting in silence with Jongin. “It’s almost time to eat,” he mumbled.

 

“Not hungry.”

 

Chanyeol didn’t respond, like he knew Jongin would say that. “I’ll get you some bread at least, and I’ll go up in a bit to tell everyone you need some time alone.” Jongin shrugged weakly, feeling lethargic as he sat there, watching Chanyeol’s expression change as he tried to think of something else to say.

 

“That necklace. Kyungsoo gave it to you?” he asked.

 

“Mm.”

 

“Scale’s far too large for any fish. I sort of guessed it when I first saw it. Did you give Kyungsoo anything in return?”

 

Jongin was a bit puzzled as to why Chanyeol was asking him such probing questions, but he didn’t mind talking about happier times. His head felt fuzzy and numb. “No. I wish I did now.”

 

Chanyeol sighed, nodding at Jongin understandingly. Strangely enough, it made Jongin feel comforted, just a bit. It was unnecessary for Chanyeol to keep sighing every other second while they sat among the crates together, but he was grateful for the relief it brought from the pain in his heart. Jongin felt understood rather than pitied for once. 

 

“Thank you,” Jongin said thickly, looking away. Chanyeol glanced at his pale face and heard the vulnerable tone in Jongin’s voice and smiled. “You’re welcome, mate. See you in a bit.”

 

*

 

It must’ve been around midnight when Jongin finally sat up properly and nibbled on the dry bread Chanyeol had left for him a few hours ago. The crew had all but retired for the night as far as Jongin could tell from the soothing silence. The waves crashing over each other were all Jongin could hear.

 

He climbed up to the main deck, the blue velvety sky reflected over the sea like a mirage. Jongin saw someone keeping a sharp lookout at the forecastle deck, but whoever it was did not hear Jongin emerge from the lower deck. He decided to keep it this way and hauled himself over to the highest deck, the poop deck to be alone, the salty breeze caressing his skin with its cold hands.

 

Large, choppy waves appeared from under the ship as it chugged its merry way over the calm sea. It was a beautiful night view, Jongin had to admit, although he wished he had someone to share his thoughts with. Placing his hands over the railing, he leaned forward and inhaled deeply for the first time since six days ago, feeling a strange calm settling over him.

 

He thought about Atlantis in another world, and tried to picture mermaids swimming by the shore shamelessly, without fear of being seen and sunning themselves on large rocks in the sun. It was a pleasant thought to try and imagine Kyungsoo swimming in the sea with the other mermaids. It felt comforting to think that Kyungsoo could be happier than how Jongin was feeling.

 

“Is this goodbye?”

 

“Not forever, dear Jongin. I will see you someday in Atlantis, I’m sure of it.”

 

Only for the souls who died at sea, Jongin thought, turning the words over in his head. Atlantis was only lost for those in this realm. It certainly was not lost to Kyungsoo, and maybe if Jongin had the courage, he could find Kyungsoo.

 

But I can look for Kyungsoo, Jongin suddenly thought.

 

Or at least, call him to me. His hand fingered the chain at his neck, trailing the sharp edge of the scale.

 

“I will wait for you, should you ever meet your fate at sea. Then perhaps, when I ferry you to the other side, we can be together once more.”

 

This is madness, Jongin thought, looking at the sea beneath the ship. There was no other way to ever be with Kyungsoo permanently except in death, and that could be fifty years from now. He might’ve forgotten me by then, Jongin thought. Even if he said he wouldn’t. 

 

A lot could happen in fifty years.

 

Kyungsoo could forget his promise to Jongin. The conviction he felt now in this moment could fade away when dawn came, and he’d lose the courage to dip the scale into the sea to call Kyungsoo. No one would know, Baekhyun had said. They were on the ship now, but no one at home would ever think that Jongin had fallen in love with a mermaid. His friends would absolutely cover for him to avoid hurting his family, he knew.

 

He took a shuddering deep breath, wrapping his hand around the chain. Jongin tugged it hard, and felt the necklace snapping apart.

 

A more rational part of his mind was telling him that this was rash; Kyungsoo could be in the other world, and he might not know that Jongin was trying to call him, but the other part of his mind, besotted by Kyungsoo, told him that there was no point in going home if he was going to feel this way for the rest of his life.

 

The man from the lookout turned around abruptly, and saw Jongin standing at the poop deck. He yelled something at him, eyeing him suspiciously as he immediately started walking towards Jongin.

 

Jongin looked down at the necklace glittering in his hand, then at the sea, dark and possibly freezing cold. Any minute now, and the man would accost him and report Jongin to the captain for suspiciously lurking around the ship at night. He guessed that the captain would probably want to toss Jongin over the deck himself, regardless of what Junmyeon would most likely say to defend Jongin.

 

The lookout man shouted again, louder this time, and Jongin knew he had to take this chance while his resolve still stood strong against common sense. Taking a deep breath, he placed a foot over the railing and gripped the necklace in his hand. Then he pushed himself over just as the lookout man shouted at him in alarm and Jongin fell over headfirst into the sea.

 

The innocent lookout man had called for assistance at once, shouting, “Man overboard,” repeatedly.

 

Why did he jump? he thought, astonished. He had only called out to him because he was surprised to see him standing there; everyone else on the ship was asleep. The lookout man looked over the edge of the poop deck. There was no sign of him.

 

His friends rushed out from the lower deck soon enough along with a few of the crew. “Your friend is overboard,” he said to the one who could understand his language. All of them could guess what he said without any need for translation and checked to see if he had resurfaced yet. Some of the crew were throwing ropes over the edge of the ship in case he was close to the surface and was able to grab onto the rope.

 

One of his friends, tall and lanky, looked pale with fright. He was gripping their leader with one arm, muttering something under his breath. He shook his head, widening his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what just happened.

 

“Can we turn the ship around?” their leader asked sternly.

 

“We already are, but he has not resurfaced,” the lookout man replied, gesturing at the first mate who was at the wheel, turning the ship around with all his might.

 

 

 

“It’s no use turning back, Junmyeon,” Chanyeol said. Junmyeon turned around and glared at him. “He’s our friend, Chanyeol! No one gets left behind!” Junmyeon shouted, enraged that Chanyeol could give up hope so easily.

 

Chanyeol began to tear up, backing away from Junmyeon and the others. “You don’t understand. You didn’t see him in the cargo hold. I should have known he would do something, but I left him alone and now he’s…”

 

Jongdae looked over the sea, goosebumps prickling all over his arm. There was no sign of Jongin still. If what Chanyeol implied was true and all those days of him moping around and crying at night meant anything, then there was no point in turning back. Jongin didn’t want to resurface anymore.

 

*

 

When Jongin fell into the sea, he was counting on the motion of the ship to dizzy him and possibly drown him without too much trouble. What he didn’t expect was the icy temperatures, and his throat choked up almost at once as the water closed over him, plunging him into darkness at once.

 

Water tugged and pulled him in opposite directions as he momentarily struggled against the current, trying to find his way up. Then he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to look for the way up, and ceased his fight, allowing the sea to pull him into so many directions that he felt confused and shaky within seconds of hitting the water.

 

Cold. It was the only thing he could think of. His lungs were already bursting for air, his heart rate increasing tenfold. He felt his heart racing in his chest, but Jongin gripped the necklace in his hand and continued to hold his breath.

 

He thought he saw the scale glimmering a little brighter than usual, but it could’ve been a hallucination. Jongin abruptly felt the ship’s motion tug and left him sinking like a stone, the bottom of the ship moving away on his left.

 

Don’t turn back, Jongin thought, looking up at it. Don’t come back for me. If they fished him out, he wanted to be dead and long gone.

 

Slowly, he felt the sea pull him downwards into black darkness and Jongin deliberately inhaled a lungful of air. Pain lanced up his nostril and throat, consequently causing him to choke on the water. Bubbles floated in front of him, taunting him. Liquid gurgled in his throat; Jongin coughed and reflexively tried to breathe, which was good. Any minute now, he knew, and he’d be gone.

 

Jongin closed his eyes, drifting to the bottom of the sea quietly. The silence is beautiful, he thought. It was the perfect requiem to the end of his life.

 

*

 

The moment Kyungsoo’s scale entered the sea, he felt it at once, like a surge of energy. It was all he needed to start swimming towards it as he felt the scale pulsing through the waves of the sea.

 

Kyungsoo could sense its distance from Isla de Sirena; Jongin must’ve left the island with the ship already. It was sinking too, rather rapidly.

 

Strange, Kyungsoo thought. It shouldn’t be sinking. It was supposed to be at the very surface of the water or only a few inches into the sea. Unless Jongin threw it away then, he thought, swimming past a coral reef.

 

He didn’t blame Jongin for throwing the scale away. I have no hold on him, Kyungsoo thought sadly. It would’ve been the right thing for Jongin to do, attempting to put Kyungsoo out of his mind. Kyungsoo knew he shouldn’t have spoken to Jongin, but it had been so long since he last saw a human and the first time he had fallen in love with one of Jongin’s kind.

 

Jongin is sweet, Kyungsoo thought. His heart ached at the thought of never being able to see Jongin again.

 

Kyungsoo continued to swim towards the pulse of the scale as quickly as possible. It was by chance that he had to stay in this realm a little longer because he had yet to feed, otherwise if Jongin had thrown the scale while Kyungsoo was in Atlantis, he’d have to wait till sundown. He noticed that the pulses of the scale had stopped sinking; it was adrift now.

 

Is Jongin trying to fish for me? Kyungsoo thought, smiling. Perhaps he had tied the chain to a hook and was waiting to catch Kyungsoo once more. Oh, dear Jongin, he thought dreamily, his naiveté ever so appealing to Kyungsoo. He was finally somewhere close to the scale.

 

Where was it? He saw no reels from the surface of the water. Kyungsoo swam closer towards the pulses of the scale, swimming downwards into a deep channel. He kept a weather eye on his surroundings, turning his head from left to right.

 

Kyungsoo felt cold as he swam just a few feet deeper into the sea and saw Jongin, eyes closed with his arms suspended above him in the water.

 

Oh no.

 

His face was blue, terribly blue as Kyungsoo approached him slowly, praying he’d still somehow be alive. But the scale was in the water for such a long time, and there it was, wrapped around his cold fingers.

 

Kyungsoo cried out as he placed a hand over Jongin’s chest, finding no pulse. He had no tears to shed, but Kyungsoo felt sorrow pierce through his heart like a sword, holding Jongin’s body close. He used to be warm, so warm like the sun but now his skin was cold to Kyungsoo’s touch.

 

Foolish Jongin, why would you do this for me? He held Jongin’s pretty face close to his, wishing, willing him to come back to life. Kyungsoo had not given him the scale to bring him to this fate, to take him away from the world above. Your life is not worth mine, he thought, pressing his lips to Jongin’s cold ones. It was far too late now. He should have given Jongin his breath if he knew it would come to this.

 

I will see you, Jongin, Kyungsoo thought, releasing his hold on Jongin’s body. He knew where to find his soul in a few hours. Until then, Kyungsoo could only let go of Jongin’s cold hands and take away the scale from his fingers, whispering goodbye.

 

*

 

The sea was calm although there were no stars in the sky. Jongin sat on a boat, floating through darkness with nothing to accompany him but a lamp to light the way. He didn’t know where he was going or how long it might take to get there… but he had a feeling that wherever he’d be at the end of this trip he would find peace.

 

There were others with him as well, in their respective boats, heading into the same direction. It was silent but Jongin felt calm, secured somehow.

 

Wherever he was going seemed to feel like a conclusion, an answer to all the unspoken questions in the back of his mind. It felt like the final destination that everyone was searching for, even if they didn’t know they were looking for it.

 

Suddenly, water sloshed by his boat.

 

 A fish? he thought, glimpsing greenish blue scales. But they were supposed to be the only ones here. Jongin glanced over the edge, trying to see if there was anything in the water by picking up the lamp on his boat. No one else seemed to notice him peering over the edge of the boat. Their boats were sailing past him, completely ignoring him while he tried to see what it was that moved beneath his boat.

 

A pair of eyes abruptly appeared in the water, all too familiar. He had seen those eyes before somewhere.

 

In another life. The thought came unbidden to him as he stared back into the water. Then he frowned. How did he get here on the boat in the first place?

 

The pair of eyes blinked once at him before he— yes, Jongin knew it was a he, but who was he?— placed his hands over the boat and pulled hard, tipping Jongin’s boat over and into the water. It caught him by surprise, but he felt no fear as his hands wrapped around Jongin, and he kissed Jongin gently on the lips.

 

Memories swept through Jongin as he kissed him back instinctively, touching the creature’s soft skin. Kyungsoo, he thought, almost reverently. Kyungsoo… I know you.

 

Jongin remembered the way it felt to love Kyungsoo, remembered how it felt when they were apart and how he leapt over the Eastern ship for Kyungsoo to find him. He remembered the crushing darkness of the sea, the silence as his heart slowed to a stop from asphyxiation. Kyungsoo forced Jongin’s mouth open, breathing hot air into his mouth and bringing him to life.

 

Jongin felt electrified and alive.

 

 

 

He opened his eyes to find Kyungsoo’s lips over his own, and Jongin pulled Kyungsoo on top of him at once, wrapping an arm around his waist as Kyungsoo leaned over him, blocking out the sun.

 

“You’ve returned,” Kyungsoo smiled, rubbing his nose over Jongin’s nose. Jongin smiled back, brushing Kyungsoo’s hair behind his ears to admire his face. “I did. Where was I?”

 

“You were in limbo. I merely pulled you out to bring you here. My home,” Kyungsoo added shyly, trailing a finger down the bridge of Jongin’s nose. Limbo? Is that what it was?  He wondered if the other people he had seen were as lucky as him.

 

 “Your home, hmm?” Jongin repeated, kissing Kyungsoo. Now that he was concentrating properly, he could feel sand on his arms and water at his feet, receding and washing over his feet in tandem. The sand was baked warm from the hot sun, and Kyungsoo’s skin was as soft as ever on his hands.

 

“Atlantis,” Jongin said softly. Kyungsoo nodded his affirmation, linking their hands together and pulling him up. He looked around and saw that it was like any other beach, but there were other mermaids too, with different coloured tails and long hair covering their breasts. Some looked undoubtedly female while others were like Kyungsoo, androgynous but beautiful all the same.

 

“It’s better than I imagined it to be,” Jongin said, looking over his shoulder to see large buildings climbing high into the sky. People were milling past the beach, at ease with their surroundings. Atlantis was supposed to be a lost but advanced civilization, and the strange patterns carved into the buildings were an indication of that. Jongin had never seen such strangely shaped buildings in his entire life.

 

“You weren’t supposed to be here till your natural death,” Kyungsoo said, rather accusingly. Jongin turned back to him, glancing at Kyungsoo’s elegantly curved tail behind him. “I couldn’t wait,” Jongin said bashfully.

 

Kyungsoo looked sad for a moment, dropping his gaze to the sand. “It was never my intention to take you away from your family, dear Jongin. But now you are here, and I cannot bring you back to your world.”

 

“Don’t you want to keep me here, hm? Like a little pet?” Jongin teased, smiling at Kyungsoo. He was here now, after all.

 

“I do. Very much. But you were not for me to keep,” Kyungsoo pouted. Jongin couldn’t resist kissing Kyungsoo again and leaned over to do so, tasting the slight brine of the sea on Kyungsoo’s lips. His tail twisted in the sand briefly as their lips touched and Jongin wondered if it was in reaction to his kiss, like a cat curling its tail around its owner’s leg when it felt happy.

 

“Luckily, it was me who decided to throw myself overboard.”

 

“How lucky,” Kyungsoo said dryly, pinching Jongin’s cheek lightly between his fingers.

 

“So now that I’m here, Kyungsoo,” Jongin said decisively, sliding an arm around Kyungsoo’s torso, “I think there are certain things we need to clear up before we do anything else.”

 

“What about your family, Jongin? The one you were promised to?” Kyungsoo said before he could continue. Kyungsoo leaned into him, mouthing at Jongin’s jawline. It was distracting to say the least, and Jongin’s answer came just a bit too late.

 

“My family promised me to someone I didn’t know. I had no bond with her and thus feel only a smidge of regret in leaving that world,” Jongin said, running a hand down Kyungsoo’s spine. His tail curled up again, and this time Jongin knew Kyungsoo liked it when he touched him.

 

“Well, you are here now. What you did was irrevocable,” Kyungsoo said, taking a moment to look up at him before he practically purred as he laid his head on Jongin’s neck, tail flicking back and forth on the sand.

 

“I know. And to see you out of the water is quite refreshing,” Jongin replied.

 

“I only come out when I feel comfortable doing so,” Kyungsoo answered, giggling when Jongin laced their fingers together. It was like touching each other for the first time; tentative, shy but curiously fascinated by each other.

 

“There is only one thing I think we still haven’t gone over yet,” Jongin said, lips hovering over Kyungsoo’s.

 

“Mm, what is it?” Kyungsoo asked, closing eyes in contentment as he held his face up at Jongin, eagerly waiting to be kissed.

 

“I still don’t know your real name,” Jongin breathed. Kyungsoo’s lips curled into a smile. His tail grazed Jongin’s leg as he opened his eyes and bit his lip shyly. “I’ll tell you,” he whispered. Jongin waited for him to shuffle over a little closer, and then he was whispering his name softly in Jongin’s ear, bequeathing a secret upon him.

 

 

 

 


End file.
